Epiphany chalk
C+M+B
- Known today as
- Chalk blessed at the Epiphany, with which the lintel of the house is marked for the new year, as 20+C+M+B+26.
- Kind
- Sacramental, in 1 older authority
- Earliest authority here
- The Catholic Encyclopedia (New York, 1907–1914)
Revised October 1, 2026: An authority added from a text read in full. Version 1, first published September 28, 2026.
Epiphany chalk: what was it used for?
The letters are the initials of the Magi, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, and of the prayer Christus mansionem benedicat, “May Christ bless this house”; the marking guards the household for the year.
Epiphany chalk: what does modern science say?
Widely kept in Central Europe and increasingly elsewhere.
Epiphany chalk: what lore surrounds it?
In German-speaking lands it is written by the Sternsinger, children dressed as the three kings who go from house to house.
Epiphany chalk: what did the older authorities say?
- The Catholic Encyclopedia
- The Catholic Encyclopedia's Epiphany article knows the feast as one in which “very different manifestations of Christ's glory and Divinity were celebrated … especially the Baptism, the miracle at Cana, the Nativity, and the visit of the Magi,” and in the Magi article gives the names written over the door, “Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar,” as appearing among the Latins only “from the seventh century,” the Martyrology mentioning “St. Gaspar, on the first, St. Melchior, on the sixth, and St. Balthasar, on the eleventh of January.”
Sources
- [120] Weller, P. T. (trans.) (1964). The Roman Ritual, Part XI: Blessings and Other Sacramentals. EWTN Library, ewtn.com. Primary text
- The Catholic Encyclopedia (New York, 1907–1914), “Epiphany.” newadvent.org/cathen/05504c.htm Standard reference work
- The Catholic Encyclopedia (New York, 1907–1914), “Kings.” newadvent.org/cathen/09527a.htm Standard reference work
- The Catholic Encyclopedia (New York, 1907–1914), “Exorcism.” newadvent.org/cathen/05709a.htm Standard reference work
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
- Passes
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- Each quotation from the older authorities checked word for word against the text, read in full
- Sources
- 4 cited: 1 primary text, 3 standard reference work.
- Corrections
- None were needed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published September 28, 2026 · last revised October 1, 2026
- Chicago
“Epiphany chalk.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified October 1, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/epiphany-chalk.
- MLA
“Epiphany chalk.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 1 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/epiphany-chalk. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Epiphany chalk. (2026, October 1). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/epiphany-chalk
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See Also
Also in The Catholic Encyclopedia
Epiphany water in The Catholic Encyclopedia · Earth of the Holy Land in The Catholic Encyclopedia · The exorcists’ manuals in The Catholic Encyclopedia · Crucifix in The Catholic Encyclopedia · everything The Catholic Encyclopedia names →
Nearby in the alphabet
Endive (the salad plant) · Epithymum (Cuscuta epithymum, a parasitic plant) · Elf-shot (Prehistoric flint arrowheads turned up in the fields) · Epsom salt (first boiled from the waters of a spring on Epsom Common in Surrey) · Elecampane (The root of Inula helenium) · Ergot · Elder (Sambucus nigra)
Historical description, not medical advice.