Teacher finds special graces in Epiphany chalking tradition after apartment fire

May 2023 fire damaged Jeremy Alexander's apartment and possessions, but the help of friends and family recalled gifts of the Magi

DETROIT ─ Jeremy Alexander will never forget approaching the entrance of his apartment in May 2023 to find water dripping down the walls.

When he first saw firetrucks outside his building as he was coming home from work, he thought the sprinkler system had inadvertently been set off. But when he realized his apartment door and the other doors in the hallway had been forced open, he realized this was not a drill.

There had been a fire in the building.

The writing in chalk above his door, “20+C+M+B+23,” was still clearly visible despite the water and soot on the walls and ceiling. Men with the fire department – Alexander thinks they were fire inspectors or part of a restoration team – asked him how he got into the building. Alexander explained that he simply walked in the lobby and no one stopped him.

A theology teacher at Cristo Rey High School in Detroit, Alexander had come from school in a dress shirt and tie, wearing a lanyard and carrying a laptop case. He thinks his “official look” could be why no one prevented him from entering his apartment building, Alden Towers in Detroit.

One of the men told him to take what he needed quickly from the apartment and leave. Alexander gathered up an armful of clothes, toiletries and a cherished cassette tape with a recording of his great-grandfather, a Croatian immigrant.

As the man waited for Alexander, he pointed to the chalk markings above the door and said, “You’ve got that Catholic thing above your door.” Alexander briefly explained the meaning of the Epiphany chalk blessing. The man hesitated and then noted, “Out of all the apartments, yours is the one with the least damage.”

Alexander had written in chalk above the door earlier that year, on Jan. 6, the Solemnity of the Epiphany, also known as Three Kings Day.

To mark the Epiphany, some Catholics bless their homes by saying a prayer and marking the door on or around the feast day. Many parishes give out blessed chalk to be used in the blessing.

The numbers in the door chalking indicate the year, while the letters signal the names of the Magi (Caspar, Melchoir and Balthazar) who brought gold, frankincense and myrrh to baby Jesus. The letters also reference the Latin phrase Christus mansionem benedicat, meaning “May Christ bless this house.”

Although flames hadn’t touched the contents of Alexander’s apartment, he lost most of his furniture and clothing due to fire and smoke damage.

Friends, family and fellow teachers and families in the Cristo Rey community rallied around him to provide shelter, clothing and food.

“I think it’s interesting that my apartment was seemingly protected from fire, but I also don’t think that God loves me more, and I am not superstitious about it,” said Alexander. “I think that this experience pointed to the reality that would be coming next, which is that, like the Magi, people were coming out of the woodwork to bring me precious gifts by offering me places to stay and by giving me clothes and food. The Holy Family was, in a very real sense, in refugee mode. That resonates with me in hindsight now.”

He’ll never forget seeing the juxtaposition of the blackened apartment door and the chalk markings above it as he reflects on the blessing of people coming together to be the Church when others are in need.

Fr. David Bechill, pastor of Christ the Good Shepherd Parish in Lincoln Park, notes that chalking one’s door on the Epiphany is a sacramental, just as rosaries, holy water and the clerics he wears as a priest are all sacramentals.

“Sacramentals are not magic. But when we use them in faith, they are part of the economy of faith,” said Fr. Bechill. “Sacramentals preserve us from distraction, whether it’s wearing a crucifix or praying the Angelus.”

Fr. Bechill also oversees St. John Paul II Classical Catholic School in Lincoln Park, which hosts a large Epiphany party each year with dinner, games, caroling and dancing. He sees door chalking as one of many sacramentals that lay the groundwork for God to work in our lives.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that “sacramentals are sacred signs instituted by the Church (CCC 1677). Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Church’s prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it (CCC 1670).”

The fire in 2023 helped Alexander understand the Epiphany in a new way. He first heard about chalking the door in German class in high school and began the tradition on his own door when he moved out of his childhood home 15 years ago.

“I see the Epiphany differently now. It led me to a deeper spiritual reality,” Alexander said. “The people came to bring me gifts after the fire in the way that the Magi brought precious gifts to the Holy Family. That’s not to compare myself to the Holy Family, but for me to draw inspiration and comfort from Jesus, Mary and Joseph.”

The experience reminds him of Ignatian spiritual exercises developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola. The practice involves immersing oneself in Biblical stories in order to connect with Scripture in a new way and develop a closer relationship with Jesus.

Anyone can chalk his or her door on the Epiphany. The simple prayer and writing of the letters and numbers takes just ten minutes. In fact, Alexander encourages everyone to do so. An Epiphany blessing and chalking the door is a small way to experience God’s grace, he says, and a way for everyday people to bring the liturgy into everyday life.

“In a simple way, it’s the marking of your own domain for Christ,” Alexander said. “It’s a little nod to God and His great goodness that He has for us, to claim our home for God.”