Gifts · A new home
House blessing gifts: a Sacred Heart for a new home
For generations the first thing hung or set up in an Irish home was the Sacred Heart. A statue for a new house carries on that custom, and gives the house blessing a focus.
The Sacred Heart and the Irish home
Ask anyone who grew up in Ireland and they will remember it: the picture of the Sacred Heart in the kitchen, with a small red lamp burning beneath it, and the names of the family written on the card below. That was the enthronement of the Sacred Heart — a family consecrating their home to Jesus and recognising Him as its King.
The devotion rests on Our Lord’s words to St Margaret Mary Alacoque in the seventeenth century, among them the promise to bless every place where an image of His Heart is set up and honoured. The enthronement as a family ceremony spread across the world in the early twentieth century, and Ireland took to it wholeheartedly.
Many young families are bringing it back. A statue of the Sacred Heart for a new house is the most fitting house-warming present a Catholic can give: it is the start of the enthronement, if the family wants one, and a sign of blessing even if they don’t.
Blessing a new home: what usually happens
Ask the parish priest
Call the parish office and ask for a house blessing. Most priests are glad to come; some parishes have a set time of year for it as well.
Have the statue in place
Choose where the Sacred Heart, or Our Lady, will stand — usually the kitchen or the living room, where the family spends its days. The priest can bless the statue along with the house.
The enthronement, if you want it
The family gathers before the image, says the act of consecration, and the names of everyone in the house are written down. Your parish can give you the prayers.
Keep it lit
A candle or small lamp in front of the Sacred Heart is the old custom. Keep any flame safely away from the statue and never leave it unattended.
Other statues for a new home
St Joseph
Protector of the Holy Family and patron of the home. A good statue for the hall, to watch the door.
The Holy Family
For a young family setting up their first house together.
Our Lady of Knock
Ireland’s own apparition, and a statue that feels at home in any Irish house.
Divine Mercy
Many homes now have the image of the Merciful Jesus with the words “Jesus, I trust in You”. A statue suits a home that prays the Chaplet.
Christ the King
The enthronement proclaims Christ as King of the home; some families prefer this image for it.
House blessing statues
Sacred Heart of Jesus
Hand-painted resin · plain or glitter
From €60
Sacred Heart of Jesus (Open Arms)
Hand-painted resin · plain or glitter
From €55
St Joseph
Hand-painted resin · plain or glitter
From €60
Holy Family
Hand-painted resin
€140
Merciful Jesus
Hand-painted resin · plain or glitter
From €95
Christ the King
Hand-painted resin
€60
Choosing the right size for the room
Look at the spot before you order. A Sacred Heart on a kitchen dresser wants clearance above it; a statue in a hall niche needs measuring for width as well as height. The measurements on every product page are taken from the piece itself.
For a garden, a porch or a front-of-house shrine, read our page on garden statues first — our painted resin statues are made for indoors, while the marble pieces are suitable for outdoors, so a spot that takes the weather wants marble.
House blessing questions
Does it have to be a picture, or can it be a statue?
Either. The enthronement asks for an image of the Sacred Heart in a place of honour; a statue serves just as well as a picture.
Which room should the Sacred Heart go in?
Traditionally the kitchen or the main living room — wherever the family gathers most — so that the whole household passes it every day.
Can you deliver to a house we haven’t moved into yet?
Yes, anywhere in Ireland, as long as someone can receive it. For marble, which we deliver ourselves, give us a phone number so we can arrange a time.
Setting up a new home?
Send us a photo of the spot and we will suggest a statue that suits it.
Updated
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