Blessing a Dorm Room

By Kim Roberts

When my children went to college, my husband and I wanted to make sure they were prepared in everyway possible.

Solid Catholic education – check; love and support from family – check;

strong Catholic upbringing– check; supplies for school and dorm room – check, check.

But were they totally protected in that dorm room?

I was worried not only about their physical safety, but also their spiritual safety.

I’m not sure how many parents think about this, maybe it’s the Italian in me, but just as you would have a new home blessed, I felt that it was equally as important to bless the place where my children would be living for nine months.

I was pretty sure the blessing from my home would not follow them and carry over to the dorm room. So, I wanted to do all I could to protect them in their new environment. I knew that getting a priest to come and bless a dorm room was probably out of the question, so I figured I would improvise and start with the basics.

I made sure they both had crucifixes for their rooms that had been blessed by a priest. I brought holy water (from my parish church) and sprinkled it everywhere I could, especially around the doors and windows and said prayers as I did this.

I made sure they had holy cards, which served as a sacred image, somewhere in the room as well as rosaries.

While preparing to bless their rooms, I read that Gregorian Chant music was recommended to ward off demons and spiritually protect a dorm room. My children drew the line with this one. But that’s OK; my mission was accomplished, and we all felt safer and closer to God after executing these small tasks.