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HisIsTheCrown
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Waw never thought there was a way out like this, so polite from a Forum elder. Good Example !
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Darran
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Not all negatives are wrong HisIsTheCrown. I didn’t notice the “unsubscribe” either, in fairness.
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odile53
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If they said that you would have to get it blessed by a priest, that means it’s not holy water. It’s just water from Lourdes. It may have come from a tap. It’s not uncommon at all for natural springs to get plumbed and have taps on the pipes. There is even a website someplace for free spring water, where you can walk up to the pipe from the spring in the ground and collect your own spring water. Even if it’s been through a pipe, it’s still spring water. So even if they put a pipe or two in the Lourdes spring and ran those pipes to someplace where people can put a bottle under the pipe and collect some, it’s still Lourdes water.
Actually, I read someplace that the water from the Lourdes spring has an unusually high content of radon. Pilgrims who go to Lourdes to bathe in the spring pools get a short exposure to it, and some diseases might be sensitive to ionizing radiation, so a bath in those springs might help someone’s illness improve or go away without any divine intervention whatsoever (other than the fact that God put the spring and the radon there in the first place.) As you might know, radiation has been used in Western medicine to treat some cancers, psoriasis, some other dermatoses, and some joint problems. For what it’s worth, I saw that the Lourdes’ water radiation is 0.7 millicuries (a low dose of radiation, but higher than the usual background radiation.)
The spring at Lourdes is not the only spring in the world where there have been curative powers associated with bathing in the water. There are many in the middle East, quite a few in North America, and some in Europe. The middle East springs and smaller lakes have an unusually high mineral density, in fact, there are a couple of cosmetic companies in Israel who harvest the minerals and turn them into some pretty pricey spa products for worldwide shipment. What makes Lourdes special is the fact that Mary appeared to Bernadette there. That is the spirituality of it.
I do not intend to disparage the many documented cures that have occurred there, and in no way am I trying to cast aspersions on Marian intervention. I am simply saying that in some cases there may be an actual biochemical explanation for some of the cures at Lourdes.
If you have a bottle of Lourdes water in your home, you are being exposed long-term to the radon, but not necessarily radon gas. Probably a couple of ounces of the stuff wouldn’t hurt you (after all, there is background radiation every place on earth,) but I wouldn’t have a couple of gallons of the water in the house for years, especially where it can evaporate. I’d leave it in a closed bottle and not put it in a holy water font. Long-term radon gas exposure has been linked to lung cancer.
Actually, I read someplace that the water from the Lourdes spring has an unusually high content of radon. Pilgrims who go to Lourdes to bathe in the spring pools get a short exposure to it, and some diseases might be sensitive to ionizing radiation, so a bath in those springs might help someone’s illness improve or go away without any divine intervention whatsoever (other than the fact that God put the spring and the radon there in the first place.) As you might know, radiation has been used in Western medicine to treat some cancers, psoriasis, some other dermatoses, and some joint problems. For what it’s worth, I saw that the Lourdes’ water radiation is 0.7 millicuries (a low dose of radiation, but higher than the usual background radiation.)
The spring at Lourdes is not the only spring in the world where there have been curative powers associated with bathing in the water. There are many in the middle East, quite a few in North America, and some in Europe. The middle East springs and smaller lakes have an unusually high mineral density, in fact, there are a couple of cosmetic companies in Israel who harvest the minerals and turn them into some pretty pricey spa products for worldwide shipment. What makes Lourdes special is the fact that Mary appeared to Bernadette there. That is the spirituality of it.
I do not intend to disparage the many documented cures that have occurred there, and in no way am I trying to cast aspersions on Marian intervention. I am simply saying that in some cases there may be an actual biochemical explanation for some of the cures at Lourdes.
If you have a bottle of Lourdes water in your home, you are being exposed long-term to the radon, but not necessarily radon gas. Probably a couple of ounces of the stuff wouldn’t hurt you (after all, there is background radiation every place on earth,) but I wouldn’t have a couple of gallons of the water in the house for years, especially where it can evaporate. I’d leave it in a closed bottle and not put it in a holy water font. Long-term radon gas exposure has been linked to lung cancer.
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Holly3278
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Personally, I believe it really is water from Lourdes. I really don’t think that EWTN would intentionally rip people off by selling tap water as water from Lourdes.
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Allegra
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I think it’s probably real. I doubt it’s very difficult to get. There are alot of scams, but this probably isn’t one.
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JillianRose
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I didn’t even know you were allowed to sell Catholic holy water. I was told by our shrine store that Catholic stores are not allowed to sell holy water. She told me to get it from my priest. I guess that’s good to know though.
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Allegra
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Technically, it’s not holy water. It’s from the spring in Lourdes. It hasn’t been blessed yet.
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Darran
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Somebody else mentioned earlier, it’s only really the bottle and postage that’s being payed for. 6$ is fairly cheap I’d say, comming all the way from France afterall.
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TheRealJuliane
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I got to visit Lourdes just after Christmas last year. I got a container of the water at the taps (which are connected to the spring). I had not thought of bringing my own container along, since hubby said there are dozens of shops along the main boulevard. But I was fortunate that 2 of the shops were open only! During the winter everything is shut down and the shopkeepers go on holiday.
Some people had gallon jugs that they filled. I was lucky; there were no lines, which during the summer, there are.
This is HOLY WATER, folks.
And to the OP, my son got one of those little bottles. The cap screws on and off. I say use it as you need it, and if I can get another container or two, I will and will top you up if you need it.
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HisIsTheCrown
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I got a good business idea.
To fill bottles with water put the labels of Rome, Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe have a priest bless them all and sell them.
Tell you, all the water of the world is connected, there must be some hundreds of molecules of water of each spring, so I am not lying. mY chemistry teach make the account when we were in the 6th grade and it gave around 100 molecules which more than enough to be considered holy.
Let me see whether I can convince the Bank…
To fill bottles with water put the labels of Rome, Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe have a priest bless them all and sell them.
Tell you, all the water of the world is connected, there must be some hundreds of molecules of water of each spring, so I am not lying. mY chemistry teach make the account when we were in the 6th grade and it gave around 100 molecules which more than enough to be considered holy.
Let me see whether I can convince the Bank…
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Darran
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Or convince EWTN. According to some people in this thread they would be scummy enough, which I doubt.
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creole54
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I’m in total agreement. Faith is a beautiful thing. Faith is a gift. I don’t think the OP has been gullible or naive in purchasing this vial of Lourdes water, and I think those whose posts seem to be almost ridiculing her purchase are being highly uncharitable. It was a small purchase, it’s not like she mortgaged her house to buy it.
To answer the original question…I think you should go ahead and open the bottle and use the water. If the bottle doesn’t reseal, just pour the water into a different holy water bottle. When it’s gone, you can still use the Lourdes bottle to bring holy water home from your parish church.
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HisIsTheCrown
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Now the true chemistry story.
Napoleon was in his Elba prison and wanted to drink water from his native village well. So somebody threw a cup of water of the Napoleon’s village well in the sea. Supposing that the water spread evenly through all the seas, how many molecules of his village’s water Napoleon drink if he drank 1 cup of water of Elba waters?
Answer: 30 molecules of water of his native well.
I went there to Lourdes several times and Have never been healed of any of my sicknesses, except for my soul, which got the grace God wanted me to have.
In August I will be there, God willing, I love the place, the serenity, the prayer. I wash my hands and face in the Holy Water and it feels fine. Period. Now, if God wants to do something, I guess He will do it, in or out of Lourdes.
Another funny aspect of Lourdes, I never found anywhere else. People pray near the grotto but sometimes talk too. The sound becomes louder and sometimes you hear “shshshshsh” and everybody quiets. It took me a long time to realize that this was automatic. When the sound reaches a certain level of decibels, and automatic machine makes the “shshshshshs” and everybody quiets. I realized that and found that when I am a Leader in great multitudes, that works too…
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Darran
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That isn’t quite the same thing though mate. Intentionally selling unblessed tap water as legitimate Lourdes Holy Water would be a grave, grave offense. That’s what some people here want to presuppose on the staff of Catholic Answers, and God knows why.
If I recall rightly though, blessed objects lose their blessing under certain circumstances, such as significant damage (think of old chapels and that sort of thing) I would imagine the same thing would count for significantly diluted Holy Water. Afterall, if there is Holy Water in the sea through no fault of our own it would go without saying that God would not allow it to end up in the nasty places water happens to go…
But that’s getting off topic. A shhh machine, that is amazing! Could come in handy at our parish
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HisIsTheCrown
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I am joking all the time here.
Now, saying things seriously: the danger is to put too much emphasis in THINGS like water or images and forget the relationship with God.
Water without faith is useless.
Besides, I was making fun for I was putting myself into the skin of people who are crooks and sell blessed water that actually is tap water. And so to warn people…
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Darran
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Ahh, I see
I wouldn’t fear, it can do nobody any harm in the slightest. anyone who acknowledges Holy Water as Holy, already has emphasis in God. Anyone who doesn’t have God as the source will deny it’s holiness, and anyone scrupulous will ultimately recognize God within the blessing even though they might not know how to apply it correctly. The only exception are the demonic, who know (and fear) the water for what it is yet deny it’s source.
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HisIsTheCrown
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I would not say so.Ahh, I see
I wouldn’t fear, it can do nobody any harm in the slightest. anyone who acknowledges Holy Water as Holy, already has emphasis in God. Anyone who doesn’t have God as the source will deny it’s holiness, and anyone scrupulous will ultimately recognize God within the blessing even though they might not know how to apply it correctly. The only exception are the demonic, who know (and fear) the water for what it is yet deny it’s source.
I told already the story, I do not know where, of the 2 pilgrims in Lourdes. They were italian and one was praying, and the other said that the important thing was touching the rock one habit and custom people have…
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Darran
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You get that impression from some Italian pilgrims, but I’m not sure. That would have to involve a person never, ever giving a single thought to their faith (despite the devil’s bias in temptation - and living in Italy) or a single thought about their pilgrimage to Lourdes and misinterpreting Catholicism to such an extent that they think the rock is the summit of their entire faith.
There are pretty dull people, me included, but I really can’t see that being too likely. There could be a million different contexts (even a joke). A person can’t recognize something as Holy without recognizing the source - if they didn’t recognize the source they wouldn’t see it as Holy.
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HisIsTheCrown
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Of course, the story of the Italian Pilgrims was true but it was a joke. Who am I to judge the pilgrims and their intentions? I just found it funny and I tell you, I was paying no attention to them. I just heard her saying this. God Bless Them.
Look, the pagans thought that everything was sacred, there were gods everywhere. And St. Ignatius has got the contemplation of God in all things. Meaning, to see God in all things. Now, I am imagining a flower. Do you realize how beautiful it is, how come the plant put that reproductive organ up, the beauty of it, the exquisite patterns of its structure, how it attracts insects which help it to bear seeds to reproduce. I could contemplate a flower for hours and never get the full meaning of it.
All things are sacred for created by God. All human beings are even more sacred for done at the image of God.
Of course, there are more Holy things, like Churches, altars, Holy Water. But we need to see God in everything.
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myc1972
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I purchased it! 
What you do is you break open the plastic container with the water and you pour it into the empty glass bottle. I finished filling the rest of the bottle with holy water from church. You can ask the priest to bless the whole bottle if you want.
You can use a little at special occasions like regular holy water.
I liked it.
What you do is you break open the plastic container with the water and you pour it into the empty glass bottle. I finished filling the rest of the bottle with holy water from church. You can ask the priest to bless the whole bottle if you want.
You can use a little at special occasions like regular holy water.
I liked it.
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