I’ve noticed that in almost all the new residential houses I have visited, I find something commonly lacking. This is the traditional home altar.
Is it because the dwellers (usually young families) have ceased to be Catholics and now hold different religious beliefs?
But even in homes of nominal Catholics, it’s seldom that I spot a home altar. What I see more often is a Santo Niño statuette, sometimes side by side with a happy Buddha ceramic statue somewhere in the living room. “To attract blessings” is the common reason why they’re there.
Perhaps the traditional home altar no longer fits into today’s modern secular lifestyle. Or maybe our millennial and Gen X sons and daughters simply are not religious or they are a-spiritual (not spiritually inclined or oriented.)
In my childhood, there usually was a home altar in every house, even in the most humble nipa hut. In our old house where I grew up, there was a special place for prayers and worship right in our living room.
It was a way of bringing the Church altar into our home. We had a crucifix and small statues of the Blessed Mother and a few saints, with flowers and candles and other elements of a typical Church altar except the tabernacle.
In most days, at six in the evening, we would gather around it and pray the “Angelus.” In the month of October, we would gather in front of it and pray the rosary.
Before going out and upon entering the house, we made sure to bow before it and make the sign of the cross as a way of asking for a blessing or protection or simply greeting the Divine. Somehow, it played an important role in building a foundation for my personal life of faith.
In our house today, we have a small home altar, lighted by two mini bulbs, which stay on all day and all night long. I confess, however, that my family does not gather around it and pray together. But we still regard it as a sacred spot and it still holds a central place in our home.
Altars are not exclusive to Catholic homes.
I’ve been to a traditional Chinese household in Binondo. It has a family altar, where the family places “spirit tablets” and the black-and-white photos of their ancestors. It represents the home of deities as well as their ancestors and relatives.
Hindus have small shrines too in their homes where they can worship daily, which they call “Puja.” The shrine will contain at least one image of their gods, such as Lord Ganesh or Lord Krishna.
In Japan, among Shintoists, a miniature shrine called Kamidana (“god-shelf”), can be found displayed in their homes and their shops. It usually consists of a small cupboard or shelf on which are displayed articles of veneration and daily offerings. This is similar to the Santo Niño or Buddha statuettes displayed in many Filipino homes and commercial establishments.
My Christian fundamentalist relatives and friends scoff at these practices. They say the Bible forbids worship of images. Many Protestants refuse to allow the presence of paintings or sculptures in their churches. Their basis is the second of the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven …”
Even Muslims forbid images of the prophet. Pictures—as well as statues—are thought to encourage the worship of idols. No imagery is used in Jewish worship because any imagery is forbidden.
As for me, I have an abiding respect for shrines and altars. They are silent reminders of the spirit in us. They also point to life’s unexplainable mysteries and this helps keep the embers of awe and wonder alive. There are things in our universe we need to pay respect and give reverence to.
However, in my aging years, I have come to believe that the presence of the Divine is not solely within the walls of a church.
The Catholic priest and novelist Andrew Greeley has been pointing out for years—that God can be found lurking in hiding places everywhere. The religious writer Kathy Coffey tells us that the presence of the Holy One can be experienced in the most mundane situations.
This is why aside from the physical altar in our home, I have my personal invisible altar that I bring with me anywhere. It is my “holy of holies,” my “inner sanctum.” It can’t be seen because it is a conjured sacred space in my mind where my inner spirit metaphorically kneels before the Divine in silent prayer, or to say thanks, ask of guidance or just listen with discernment to His whispers.
With this portable “altar” in me, minute spiritual epiphanies and upliftments can transpire anywhere and anytime. It can happen while waiting for my turn at the doctor’s clinic, or inside a commuter train, having coffee after a meal at the food court amidst the din, watching an old film via a streaming platform or even while going through used books in a bargain book shop and encountering inspiring titles.
This inner sanctum helps me avoid getting into practices and activities that would desecrate it in the same way we find it sacrilegious to vandalize a church or ransack the tabernacle. Thus, it also serves as my centering point, a place to go back to whenever I find myself doing things in excess or delving into practices and behavior that may be morally and ethically offensive or reprehensible.
While I still go to church occasionally, it is this portable personal altar that has really helped me find the way to a deeper understanding of faith, a faith that is more alive and more honest.