A home altar is a very simple thing. It can be a small table with a clean white cloth placed over the top. Linen is good, but it’s not necessary. It should have a candle on it which should be lit when you are praying or meditating. Little votive glass candle holders are excellent for this, as are the seven-day candles which come in colored holders. The main idea is that the flame is a symbol of God’s presence and this is the most important element at your altar. The color of the glass candle should be cobalt blue, to represent the Father.

The cloth should be kept clean and the whole altar should be in a place that is not too public or pedestrian. You can burn incense around your shrine— frankincense is good. The most important aspect of a home altar is not the physical structure, but the reality of what you do at the shrine. The flame and the shrine are a symbol of your own heart; that most intimate and holy place, which is the contact point to your Higher Being, Jesus Christ, and the Father. You may feel or call this the inner voice of intuition—it’s from the same place. An altar is there to help you to contact that place within you. Setting aside a consistent time for prayer or meditation will help considerably.

When you have a problem in your thinking, your emotions, or with your health, or just something that is bothering you—a feeling—go to your altar, kneel before it with your hands upturned in a receiving gesture. Contact the Father first, then Jesus Christ, and actually give Him the thing which bothers you and ask Him to take it. See it now sitting on the altar. Then ask Jesus to replace your problem with white Light and to fill you with Light in its place. Accept this from Him and thank the Father. Get up and go about your business forgetting all about it. This is called “laying it on the altar.” It works!

If you wish to serve yourself Communion, discuss it with a Priest.