VII. Holy Water
by curtjester ~ May 1st, 2008. Filed under: Traditions.At the top of the list of stuff that Catholics like is holy water. Holy water is great stuff and unlike bottled water is absolutely free! Now I am not talking about the worst Bad Company album ever titled Holy Water, but water that has been blessed and can be found in any Catholic Church.
When you enter a Catholic Church you should almost immediately see a Holy Water Font.
Now the above is not the holy water font I am talking about. Normally they look something like this.
Fonts are simply vessels used to hold the holy water and are often located in multiple locations towards the entrance of the Church. Though sometimes you will find a large baptismal font filled with holy water.
Holy water is water that has been blessed by a deacon or a priest and normally a very small amount of salt is used. This spiritual water is a symbol of spiritual cleansing. Using holy water is also a reminder of our baptism and the baptismal promises we say each Easter. Holy water is considered a sacramental by the Catholic Church and unlike sacraments their efficacy depends not on the sacramental itself, but on the influence of prayerful petition.
Now as Catholics enter a church they bless themselves with holy water while making the sign of the cross. This is an interesting confluence since we combine the begriming of our Christian life in baptism with our redemption through the death of Christ via the sign of the cross. Catholics love cool symbolism like that! Not only that often we combine this with genuflecting (bending the knee) at the same time if we see a tabernacle with the Blessed Sacrament present. I told you we love symbolism and bending the knee to Jesus fits quite well with Philipians 2: 10.
But that doesn’t end the holy water fun in a Catholic church. During the Easter Vigil Mass a priest or deacon will walk thorough the church sprinkling holy water on the people via a liturgical implement called a aspergillum.We also love cool words like aspergillum. So if a priest is casting aspersions of holy water at you this is a good thing.
You will almost always find holy water available in the church unless the font has dried up and hasn’t been refilled yet or it is Good Friday and Holy Saturday. On these days holy water fonts are emptied in preparation for the blessing of the water at the Easter Vigil and as a deprivation during the beginning of the Triduum as we meditate on the crucifixion. Though some parishes go a little overboard and deprive their people of holy water for the whole of Lent. Or sometimes even place things like sand or marbles in the font instead. Emptying the fonts for the whole of Lent though is an innovation and is not permitted as per the Congregation for Divine Worship.
Holy water is also used during baptisms, but in an emergency any water is fine since the validity of the sacrament does not depend on having holy water.
The use of holy water though does not stop at the door of the church. Many Catholics also maintain holy water in their homes. It is easy to obtain plastic bottles used specifically for this purpose that are simply filled from a holy water font directly or from a small tank containing holy water found in some churches. You can then use holy water at home for example to bless yourself with it before praying and once again using the sign of the cross or with.
Now if your teenager looks like this you might consider keeping a six pack or more of holy water around the house. Well actually if your teenager looks like this and is suddenly able to speak Latin while their bed is moving like a bucking horse you need to contact your diocese for discernment as to whether they are demonically possessed, mentally ill, or just a normal teenager. If a diocesan exorcist does have to get involved then holy water certainly will be involved.
Now holy water shouldn’t be used in a superstitious way as if the holy water would have some magical effect. Like I mentioned previously the efficacy of holy water is based on prayerful petition. That is another thing Catholics like - being able to say cool things like “the efficacy of holy water.”
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:24 am
Wonderful combination of information and good humor in this post - welcome, Curt Jester!
Now, if only holy water didn’t evaporate - our little font by the door is perpetually dry due to the pesky laws of nature. But if holy water becomes holy vapor through evaporation and thus spreads throughout the atmosphere and blesses the entire world…I’ll stand by my empty font and pray for the efficacy of holy vapor.
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Many or perhaps most of you have probably heard this quip:
Q. “How does one make holy water?”
A. “You boil the hell out of it.”
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Sorry, but I am a stickler of the Lynn Truss variety (author of “Eats, Shoots, and Leaves”) so I have to chip in with a question: Are you sure our Christian life is “begrimed” by holy water at baptism? Aren’t we cleansed?
I lke that holy water font; I should send all emails to my pastor in that font…
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Oops, should have been “like”
May 2nd, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Oh. My. Gosh. You are hysterical!! I just added you to my blogroll.
I loved the “six-pack” comment. (And I just watched “The Exorcist a few weeks ago! Ya think the mom would have beat feet to the nearest confessional after that one but I guess she was too much in a hurry to get out of there.)
Thanks for some great laughs. I am still getting used to considering myself “Catholic” again, but blogs like this remind me why I do love Catholics.
I think they have the best sense of humor.
May 2nd, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Dopey me. I just noticed that you, Jeff, are the author of this gem. Doh!
Great group blog!
May 5th, 2008 at 9:57 am
As a new Catholic (since 2006), and a lapsed practicing Pagan/Wiccan, the Church is a wonderful place for me. Deep and rich, full of reconciliation and love. But still quite confusing. I mean, why do some folks genuflect when hit by holy water, some cross themselves, and some just laugh and wipe it off? Isn’t there a rulebook about this somewhere? Also, why don’t Catholics finish the last song of a Mass rather than stampeding out behind the priest as he finishes? It looks like the last lap of the Kentucky Derby.
When I first professed Christ, my evangelical friends were horrified that I was joining “those people”. “You should join a Bible believing church” they said. So far, that is what I have found as a Roman Catholic…..a Bible believing, biblically based church. Now I just offer them some holy water when they get upset. Seems to work better than coffee.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Dear New Catholic, lapsed Pagan,
Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I was always taught to cross myself when hit by holy water. Oh, and I was also taught that even if you’re not hit by the water but the priest is flinging it in your general direction, you’re supposed to cross yourself.
Catholics don’t finish the last song at Mass because we’re not comfortable with sounding bad while singing, unlike Protestants. In all honesty, it’s probably because the final blessing is finished and people just want to get out of there. Actually, I saw a reduction in people leaving right after the priest when Father made it known that we’re supposed to pray after the Mass is over. Now at least people stop to kneel quickly before running out of the church. (Although some still leave right after Communion.)
May 8th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
NC,LP
I amy be wrong, but I believe the Mass ends when the priest says, “The Mass has ended go in peace.” And the people respond, “Thanks be to God.” Staying after to pray or sing the recessional hymn are simply pious traditions, like signing yourself when hit with holy water. Simple, pious traditions like these are other stuff that Catholics like.
No snark intended in the opening sentence.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
LOL. I once had a student give a presentation about exorcism. She fed the class cake while she gave the presentation. When she came to the end of the presentation, she said, “I almost forgot to tell you another way that a priest can tell if someone is possessed–have them ingest holy water. I made the cake with holy water, so I can see that no one in this class is possessed.” I haven’t had a student top that presentation yet.