What the Church says about a place for prayer
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that where we pray matters for true prayer (no. 2691). The parish church is the home of the parish’s liturgy, and the place set apart for adoring Christ, really present in the Blessed Sacrament. But for personal prayer it suggests a “prayer corner” with the Sacred Scriptures and icons, where one can be before the Father in secret. And it adds a line written for families: “In a Christian family, this kind of little oratory fosters prayer in common.”
Both halves come from Our Lord. He sends each soul into secret: “But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret” (Matthew 6:6, Douay-Rheims). And he promises himself to the gathered household: “For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20, Douay-Rheims).
A note on the word. Many Catholics call it a home altar, and the name is a loving one. But your shelf is not an altar of sacrifice, where the Mass is offered; it is a place of prayer, which is exactly what the Catechism means by an oratory.
What to put on a home altar
Begin with less than you think. Every object should help someone pray; anything that only decorates can go elsewhere.
- A crucifix. The centre of every Catholic prayer corner: the love that saved us, always in view.
- The Scriptures. The Catechism names them first. A Bible that is actually opened, with a ribbon in this Sunday’s Gospel, is better than a fine one that is not.
- An image of Our Lady. An icon or a print of an old master. She keeps the house the way she kept the house at Nazareth.
- The family’s patrons. A small image of each person’s patron saint, or of the saint of the parish.
- A candle. Lit for prayer and put out after. Never leave it burning unattended, and keep it out of small hands.
- Holy water. A small font or bottle. The Catechism notes that sprinkling with holy water recalls Baptism (no. 1668); bless yourself and your children with it.
- A cloth in the colour of the season. Change it with the Church’s year. The Liturgical Home tool shows today’s colour and the feasts ahead.
- A rosary, and a place for intentions. A small dish or notebook where anyone may leave a name to be prayed for.
Where to put it
Put it where the house actually lives — on the way to the kitchen, in the corner of the main room, at the top of the stairs — not in a room nobody enters. God told Israel to keep his words before them all day long: “thou shalt meditate upon them sitting in thy house, and walking on thy journey, sleeping and rising… And thou shalt write them in the entry, and on the doors of thy house” (Deuteronomy 6:7, 9, Douay-Rheims).
- A family with young children: set it low enough that a child can reach the holy water and see the faces of the saints.
- A small flat or a shared house: a single shelf, or the top of a dresser, is enough. Size is not the point.
- A woman living alone: a corner of the bedroom, near where you wake, makes the first and last moments of the day belong to God.
- A widow: many keep the photograph of a husband who has died beside the crucifix and pray for him there by name.
Blessing your prayer corner
Crucifixes, images, rosaries and holy water are sacramentals: sacred signs instituted by the Church that, through her prayer, dispose us to receive grace and cooperate with it (Catechism 1667, 1670). They are not magic, and they are not required for prayer; they are helps.
You may ask a priest to bless your crucifix and images. The Catechism also teaches that sacramentals flow from the baptismal priesthood, so that “lay people may preside at certain blessings,” though the more a blessing concerns the Church’s life and sacraments, the more it is reserved to bishops, priests and deacons (no. 1669). So when the corner is ready, gather the household, make the Sign of the Cross, read a few verses of Scripture, pray the Our Father together, and ask God to make this a place where your family meets him.
Keeping it alive
A prayer corner only works if someone prays there. Tie it to moments that already happen in your day:
- Morning: a Morning Offering said standing at the shelf before the day begins.
- Noon: the Angelus — or the Regina Caeli in Eastertide — with whoever is home.
- Evening: light the candle, read the next day’s Gospel, pray one decade of the Rosary, and end with a short examen.
- Feasts: change the cloth, set out the saint of the day, put flowers before Our Lady on her feasts.
- Sorrow: when someone dies, set their photograph there for a month and pray for them by name.
Let the children help: they can choose the flowers, carry the holy water, and trim the candle. What they tend, they remember. Josue’s resolution can hang over it: “as for me and my house we will serve the Lord” (Josue [Joshua] 24:15, Douay-Rheims).
Prayer
At the evening candle
Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight;
the lifting up of my hands, as evening sacrifice.
The Church in the Home tool helps you plan the corner, set the household’s daily rule of prayer, and keep the feasts of your own family — baptism days, patrons and anniversaries — on its calendar.
Questions
What do you put on a Catholic home altar?
Start with a crucifix, the Scriptures and an image of Our Lady. Then add what helps your household pray: a candle, holy water, images of your patron saints, a rosary, a cloth in the colour of the Church’s season, and a place to write intentions.
Does a home altar need to be blessed by a priest?
No blessing is required before you pray there, but you may ask a priest to bless your crucifix, images and holy water. The Catechism (no. 1669) teaches that lay people may preside at certain blessings, while the more a blessing concerns the Church’s life and sacraments, the more it is reserved to the ordained; so a family can also pray together over its new prayer corner.
Is it right to call it an altar?
It is a common and affectionate name, but a home altar is not an altar of sacrifice where Mass is offered; it is a place of prayer. The Catechism speaks of a prayer corner, a small oratory for the family.
Where should I put a prayer corner in a small home?
Wherever you will pass it every day. A single shelf in the main room or a corner of the bedroom is enough; what matters is that it is used.