A Holy Water Question?

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lucien123

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Hi Everyone,

I have never really gotten the concept of holy water. I use it to cross myself in church and stuff like that, but I often seen people coming to church and taking bottles (litres and litres) of holy water and taking it home with them.

My question is, Apart from crossing ourselves, What possible use would a person have for such large amounts of holy water? Do they drink it or something? I’ve heard that people use it to bless their homes, Is this true? If so hows it done, and can I do it? I’d really like to know the uses of it, because I’m clearly missing out something.

Please advise,
Thanks
Lucien
 
lucien123 said:
Hi Everyone,

I have never really gotten the concept of holy water. I use it to cross myself in church and stuff like that, but I often seen people coming to church and taking bottles (litres and litres) of holy water and taking it home with them.

My question is, Apart from crossing ourselves, What possible use would a person have for such large amounts of holy water? Do they drink it or something? I’ve heard that people use it to bless their homes, Is this true? If so hows it done, and can I do it? I’d really like to know the uses of it, because I’m clearly missing out something.

Please advise,
Thanks
Lucien
Click to expand...
I kow a lady that drinks it… Well it might be used against the temptations of the devil I guess… I know I feel cleaner and my room always feel lighter when I sprinkle it around, praying the for protection against satan… I do believe demons roam around 🙂
 
Many people use it to bless themselves each time they enter or exit their homes just as we do at church. I like to carry some in my car as well.
 
lucien123 said:
Hi Everyone,

I have never really gotten the concept of holy water. I use it to cross myself in church and stuff like that, but I often seen people coming to church and taking bottles (litres and litres) of holy water and taking it home with them.

My question is, Apart from crossing ourselves, What possible use would a person have for such large amounts of holy water? Do they drink it or something? I’ve heard that people use it to bless their homes, Is this true? If so hows it done, and can I do it? I’d really like to know the uses of it, because I’m clearly missing out something.

Please advise,
Thanks
Lucien
Click to expand...
Holy water, a sacramental, removes venial sin! If a mother blessed her child …
blessed each room in her house…Used this as a protection for those entrusted to her care by God. I used mother instead of father, hard for a father to get a thirty year old to stand still for a blessing but a Mother. Piece of cake!
 
I have never seen people taking litres and litres of holy water. That is strange and I don’t know why anyone would take that much. It is not intended for human consumption even though some may drink it. Many Catholic homes have a small font for putting a small holy water in so that people can bless themselves.
 
Liters and liters? Perhaps they are giving it away to others, too, or perhaps they have a large number of children at home who each have a font in their bedrooms - those can dry up fast.

Anyway, it is an important sacramental of the Church, and the Church has always highly recommended that the faithful take it home to use to sprinkle themselves, their families, crops, fields, homes, and even their animals (farmers).

The older (EF) prayer of blessing is very specific in terms of what it asks God to grant through it. It also carries in the EF an exorcism prayer (salt is also exorcised in the ritual and placed into it) that asks God to drive away the evil one and all his minions from anyplace and anything sprinkled with the water. Here is an English translation of the EF (Roman Ritual) blessing (the signs of the cross made by the priest did not show up in my pasting of it below):

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord. All: Who made heaven and earth.
2. The exorcism of salt follows:
God’s creature, salt, I cast out the demon from you by the living God, by the true God, by the holy God, by God who
ordered you to be thrown into the water-spring by Eliseus to heal it of its barrenness. May you be a purified salt, a means of health for
those who believe, a medicine for body and soul for all who make use of you. May all evil fancies of the foul fiend, his malice and
cunning, be driven afar from the place where you are sprinkled. And let every unclean spirit be repulsed by Him who is coming to
judge both the living and the dead and the world by fire. All: Amen.
Let us pray.
Almighty everlasting God, we humbly appeal to your mercy and goodness to graciously bless this creature, salt, which you have
given for mankind’s use. May all who use it find in it a remedy for body and mind. And may everything that it touches or sprinkles be
freed from uncleanness and any influence of the evil spirit; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Exorcism of the water:
God’s creature, water, I cast out the demon from you in the name of God the Father almighty, in the name of Jesus Christ, His
Son, our Lord, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. May you be a purified water, empowered to drive afar all power of the enemy,
in fact, to root out and banish the enemy himself, along with his fallen angels. We ask this through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is coming to judge both the living and the dead and the world by fire. All: Amen.
Let us pray.
O God, who for man’s welfare established the most wonderful mysteries in the substance of water, hearken to our prayer, and pour
forth your blessing on this element now being prepared with various purifying rites. May this creature of yours, used in your
mysteries and endowed with your grace, serve to cast out demons and to banish disease. May everything that this water sprinkles in
the homes and gatherings of the faithful be delivered from all that is unclean and hurtful; let no breath of contagion hover there, no
taint of corruption; let all the wiles of the lurking enemy come to nothing. By the sprinkling of this water may everything opposed to
the safety and peace of the occupants of these homes be banished, so that in calling on your holy name they may know the well-being
they desire, and be protected from every peril; through Christ our Lord. All: Amen.
3. Now the priest pours the salt into the water in the form of a cross, saying:
May this salt and water be mixed together; in the name of the Father , and of the Son , and of the Holy Spirit. All: Amen.
P: The Lord be with you. All: And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
God, source of irresistible might and king of an invincible realm, the ever-glorious conqueror; who restrain the force of the adversary,
silencing the uproar of his rage, and valiantly subduing his wickedness; in awe and humility we beg you, Lord, to regard with favor
this creature thing of salt and water, to let the light of your kindness shine upon it, and to hallow it with the dew of your mercy; so that
wherever it is sprinkled and your holy name is invoked, every assault of the unclean spirit may be baffled, and all dread of the
serpent’s venom be cast out. To us who entreat your mercy grant that the Holy Spirit may be with us wherever we may be, through
Christ our Lord. All: Amen.
 
I take home a large bottle of holy water- it lasts a while. I have a font by the front door, for the family to bless themselves as they come and go, and one outside the bedroom doors for us to bless ourselves and the children before bed. Water evaporates, besides what we use, so the fonts need to be refilled about every other day. Occasionally, we’ll sprinkle it around the house, and I sometimes bless myself when I am fighting a temptation. Good stuff!
 
I have a small bottle of the Holy Water blessed at Epiphany; Fr. calls it the “napalm” of Holy Water.

The parish has a ton of it stored for the rest of the year.

I use it, along with the salt blessed at Epiphany, to bless home, food, etc.

Interesting occurrence:

I went on a business trip a few weeks ago for a company I provide unpaid services to. It was in Vegas. I loathe Vegas. The spiritual depravity of the city began to affect me physically, mainly because due to scheduling, I was unable to make it to Mass and relied on prayer and the constant appeals to the Blessed Virgin while clutching my Rosary in the pocket.

Either way, I started getting this feeling in my throat the last day. It hurt to swallow but was not a sore throat. It was more like I had something “stuck” there, though I know nothing was stuck. I have had this happen before and it means, for a few days, every time I swallow, I get increasingly aware of this and it comes to a point I end up dry-heaving.

As soon as I got home, I immediately prayed for protection and that despite the tiring travel I would be able to make it to Mass the next morning and not pull the “alarm is in the dream” trick.

Before I went to bed, I got the Holy Water from the cabinet and while taking 3 sips ( in the Name of the Father, sip, the Son, sip, and the Holy Ghost, sip), I mentally prayed for healing of the throat issue.

Next morning, nothing. Was like it had never happened. This has NEVER gone away in a day. It always takes a few days to go through the cycle.

Needless to say that while happy, I was not surprised. I trusted for the issue to be taken away, put Holy Water on the spot the only way possible (swallowing), and that was that.

If one doesn’t have faith in the Holy Water in use on themselves, ya might as well be using swamp water.
 
jonbhorton said:
I have a small bottle of the Holy Water blessed at Epiphany; Fr. calls it the “napalm” of Holy Water.

The parish has a ton of it stored for the rest of the year.

I use it, along with the salt blessed at Epiphany, to bless home, food, etc.

Interesting occurrence:

I went on a business trip a few weeks ago for a company I provide unpaid services to. It was in Vegas. I loathe Vegas. The spiritual depravity of the city began to affect me physically, mainly because due to scheduling, I was unable to make it to Mass and relied on prayer and the constant appeals to the Blessed Virgin while clutching my Rosary in the pocket.

Either way, I started getting this feeling in my throat the last day. It hurt to swallow but was not a sore throat. It was more like I had something “stuck” there, though I know nothing was stuck. I have had this happen before and it means, for a few days, every time I swallow, I get increasingly aware of this and it comes to a point I end up dry-heaving.

As soon as I got home, I immediately prayed for protection and that despite the tiring travel I would be able to make it to Mass the next morning and not pull the “alarm is in the dream” trick.

Before I went to bed, I got the Holy Water from the cabinet and while taking 3 sips ( in the Name of the Father, sip, the Son, sip, and the Holy Ghost, sip), I mentally prayed for healing of the throat issue.

Next morning, nothing. Was like it had never happened. This has NEVER gone away in a day. It always takes a few days to go through the cycle.

Needless to say that while happy, I was not surprised. I trusted for the issue to be taken away, put Holy Water on the spot the only way possible (swallowing), and that was that.

If one doesn’t have faith in the Holy Water in use on themselves, ya might as well be using swamp water.
Click to expand...
Our pastor blesses large amounts of water several times a year. It is put into a dispenser in the vestibule of the church. Anyone can fill their bottles. It looks like about a 3 gallon container/dispenser. But it doesn’t last all year.
Interesting story about your healing from drinking the holy water. I had a similar experience from drinking Lourdes water. It was in a plastic bottle that my husband brought back from a pilgrimage to Lourdes. It sat in our cabinet for a few years without being used until one day I was becoming concerned about a certain health issue. I drank some of this old water and it tasted so old and dusty like that I was afraid I was going to get sick from drinking it. But I never got sick. And the health concern, I can’t remember what it was, never became a problem. I may sound ungrateful doubter, but I still would not recommend drinking it.
 
zab said:
Our pastor blesses large amounts of water several times a year. It is put into a dispenser in the vestibule of the church. Anyone can fill their bottles. It looks like about a 3 gallon container/dispenser. But it doesn’t last all year.
Interesting story about your healing from drinking the holy water. I had a similar experience from drinking Lourdes water. It was in a plastic bottle that my husband brought back from a pilgrimage to Lourdes. It sat in our cabinet for a few years without being used until one day I was becoming concerned about a certain health issue. I drank some of this old water and it tasted so old and dusty like that I was afraid I was going to get sick from drinking it. But I never got sick. And the health concern, I can’t remember what it was, never became a problem. I may sound ungrateful doubter, but I still would not recommend drinking it.
Click to expand...
I’ve eagerly eaten from street carts in Tijuana, only-God-knows-street-carts in multiple cities in Iraq, and even eat my own cooking sometimes. Holy water is the least of my health concerns so far as ingested substances go. lol
 
My Grandmother used to go from room to room, sprinkling Holy Water in each room during a thunderstorm. House was never hit!
 
Holy Water, when used faithfully, provides protection against evil. Sacramentals are helpful in driving away evil, and priests use Holy Water during exorcisms. The use of holy water and making a sign of the cross when entering a church reflects a renewal of baptism, and a cleansing of venial (forgivable) sin.

You can use Holy Water to cross yourself, others, and on physical objects too (house, car, etc…). When we (not a priest) use Holy Water in these ways, we are actually asking God to bless us and the physical objects. (When a priest blesses, he does it* In persona Christi *)
 
I’ve found the world to be more complex and interesting than it appears on the surface. I suggest “The Rite” as a book to read about the remarkable effects of holy water. In my experience, demons do not like holy water. I use it at home to bless my house and my space at work.
 
At Lourdes, people bring LARGE containers to fill. And of course you can buy containers there, large, small and in between. Next time I will bring some home for everyone I know. This time I brought about a half liter home.

I am not using that for the holy water font at the back door (the one we use mostly). I got some from our church baptismal font for that purpose. But I think the font I have is porous or something - the water is gone in a day! 😦

Use every tool God gives us to help us in our daily lives!!
 
I have a jar of Holy Water for sprinkling blessed by the previous pastor of the previous RC parish I belonged to.

I have a bottle of Holy Water for drinking blessed by our bishop (Ukrainian Catholic) this past Theophany (Epiphany).
 
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