117 Russians in hospital after drinking holy water

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117 Russians in hospital after drinking holy water
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 						01/25/2010 | 08:37 PM
More than 100 Russian Orthodox believers have been hospitalized after drinking holy water during Epiphany celebrations in the eastern city of Irkutsk, an official said Monday.

A total of 117 people, including 48 children, were in the hospital complaining of acute intestinal pain after drinking water from wells in and around a local church last week, said Vladimir Salovarov, a spokesman for the Irkutsk Investigative Committee.

Salovarov said 204 people required some medical treatment after consuming the water, the source of which was a stagnant lake. He said, however, that it was too early to say what caused the illness.

Many Russians consider any water obtained on Epiphany — which they celebrate on Jan. 19 — to be holy.

The water is typically bottled for consumption later. Tap water in most of Russia is undrinkable. **- AP

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gmanews.tv/story/182437/117-russians-in-hospital-after-drinking-holy-water
 
CHRISTINE77 said:
Since when do people drink Holy Water?:confused:
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These were Russian Orthodox, and not Catholics. There may be cultural or religous significance that we are not aware of.

Personally, I am praying for a speedy and complete recovery for all of them.
 
They might want to re-think that practice. So the Orthodox priests bless the waters in the wells? I think our priests add a little blessed salt to the water and also bless the water, but I don’t know about well-water. Of course there are shrines where the natural living water is considered holy, such as Lourdes.
 
CHRISTINE77 said:
They might want to re-think that practice. So the Orthodox priests bless the waters in the wells? I think our priests add a little blessed salt to the water and also bless the water, but I don’t know about well-water. Of course there are shrines where the natural living water is considered holy, such as Lourdes.
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In the Byzantine tradition, the waters are blessed on the feast of Theophany (Epiphany in the West). The Byzantine tradition celebrates the Baptism of the Lord in the Jordan on this feast day. Salt is not used in the Byzantine tradition.

In the West, holy water is frequently blessed throughout the year as needed. In the East, the water blessed on the Theophany is used throughout the year. Many Eastern Christians fill up large water bottles with the holy water on this day.
 
CHRISTINE77 said:
They might want to re-think that practice. So the Orthodox priests bless the waters in the wells? …
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**Why?

We’ve been doing it for nearly 2000 years, and this is the FIRST trouble I’ve heard from this practice in my 30+ years of being Orthodox.

In my experience, the water that is blessed and then drunk is drawn from taps, same as any other water.**
 
Madaglan said:
In the Byzantine tradition, the waters are blessed on the feast of Theophany (Epiphany in the West). The Byzantine tradition celebrates the Baptism of the Lord in the Jordan on this feast day. Salt is not used in the Byzantine tradition.

In the West, holy water is frequently blessed throughout the year as needed. In the East, the water blessed on the Theophany is used throughout the year. Many Eastern Christians fill up large water bottles with the holy water on this day.
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We also have the Lesser Blessing of Water (3 forms are in the Russian books) that can be done any time as needed–usually the first of the month.
 
There’s nothing wrong with it! It’s an ancient custom. I do think the water should be triple-checked of being clean beforehand, though. I love the tradition myself.
 
If it’s a tradition I guess they should keep it, but something should be done to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
 
It is still Holy Water, even if it wasn’t pure for drinking…I am sure they will be more careful in future to test the purity of the water before drinking it

It still is perfectly safe for using it to bless yourself ,or to bless your home etc
 
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