Catholic clerics guilty of waterboarding

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During mass our clerics, priests/friars, douse us with holy water. I thought it would be interesting to see what other parish priests are like. Sometimes we get so soak and wet it feels like rain.
 
When Jack Bauer posts a thread on waterboarding, you know there is real action on the Liturgy and Sacraments forum.

I’ve noticed that priests who use branches seem to get a little more water in the air than those who use the gold ball with holes in it (I forget the name).

This raises a few questions that I could look up, but that more knowledgeable posters probably know off the tops of their heads:

  1. *]What is the name of the metal device?
    *]Does the bowl or basin have any special name?
    *]Are there any rules on materials? I know I’ve seen a glass bowl, I’m assuming that when I haven’t noticed the bowl it was probably brass or something similar.
    *]Must the foliage be anything in particular, like olive or hyssop? Does it have a name other than “branch”?
    *]Are there rules on the order of what directions this procedure is done, e.g. counterclockwise through the congregation, or starting on the priest’s right as he faces the congregation?
 
Digitonomy said:
When Jack Bauer posts a thread on waterboarding, you know there is real action on the Liturgy and Sacraments forum.

I’ve noticed that priests who use branches seem to get a little more water in the air than those who use the gold ball with holes in it (I forget the name).

This raises a few questions that I could look up, but that more knowledgeable posters probably know off the tops of their heads:

  1. *]What is the name of the metal device?
    *]Does the bowl or basin have any special name?
    *]Are there any rules on materials? I know I’ve seen a glass bowl, I’m assuming that when I haven’t noticed the bowl it was probably brass or something similar.
    *]Must the foliage be anything in particular, like olive or hyssop? Does it have a name other than “branch”?
    *]Are there rules on the order of what directions this procedure is done, e.g. counterclockwise through the congregation, or starting on the priest’s right as he faces the congregation?
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  1. I can see you know my name quite well 😉 I thought someone might find it humorous. But the topic is a fun one to discuss. I doused my own children last night and then had an epiphany that led me to posting here.

    I was always a little worried that the metal wand the priest shook would come flying into someones head. Our Friars use the branches, which explains a lot of course. The joke about it too, but they are very good priests and take it serious, but do it in the light of being Franciscans, a little over the top.
 
zab said:
Look up **aspergilium **and aspersorium
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Thanks. I couldn’t remember what it was called. Hour pastor uses olive branchs I believe, or some sort of green leafy plant… very large.
 
zab said:
Look up **aspergilium **and aspersorium
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I’ll never forget it now. Here is what Wikipedia says about the mold, which is what I thought of when I saw those words:
Aspergillus, a genus of mold, was named in 1729 by the Italian priest and biologist Pietro Antonio Micheli. When viewed under a microscope, the mold cells were said to resemble an aspergillum.
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Jack_Bauer said:
During mass our clerics, priests/friars, douse us with holy water. I thought it would be interesting to see what other parish priests are like. Sometimes we get so soak and wet it feels like rain.
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unless they are torturing you to make you confess that doesn’t count, a rather extreme tactic to get people back into the confessionals, to be sure
 
Jack_Bauer said:
During mass our clerics, priests/friars, douse us with holy water. I thought it would be interesting to see what other parish priests are like. Sometimes we get so soak and wet it feels like rain.
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XD, love the thread title.

Not really for me. The aspergilium that the priest uses are sort of designed to give us a light sprinkling.

When I was in college, we used what looked like the end of a tree branch of some kind to sprinkle the holy water, the priest wasn’t aiming very well an ended up dosing one guy. So I guess it might have more to do with the tool being used than the priest himself.
 
My priest uses one of these. If you happen to be at the end of an aisle, you can get pretty wet. 😛
Jack_Bauer said:
I was always a little worried that the metal wand the priest shook would come flying into someones head.
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This actually happen to a priest friend of mine. :o
Thank God no one was seriously injured. He actually switched over from the wand style to the same one I posted in the link above,
it’s probably safer that way! 😉
 
Oneofthewomen said:
This actually happen to a priest friend of mine. :o
Thank God no one was seriously injured. He actually switched over from the wand style to the same one I posted in the link above,
it’s probably safer that way! 😉
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Adding a wrist strap to the aspergilium would mean paying royalties to the Nintendo Wii Corporation. 🙂
 
Oneofthewomen said:
My priest uses one of these. If you happen to be at the end of an aisle, you can get pretty wet. 😛
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Those are the best, until the straws start coming out one by one. 😃 We used to use one of those, until we upgraded:
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

But honestly, those wicker brushes are the best kind I’ve ever seen, besides the one I posted above.
 
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

Our church as a more advanced one. =)
 
Jack_Bauer said:
During mass our clerics, priests/friars, douse us with holy water. I thought it would be interesting to see what other parish priests are like. Sometimes we get so soak and wet it feels like rain.
Click to expand...
Hardly water-boarding in technical terms. Although through the seven week-end solemnities of Sunday during Easter until Pentecost Sunday my parish priest used blessed cedar branches with altar servers holding a large glass bowl of Holy Water at his side, he would begin down the center aisle sprinkling parishioners with with Holy Water. If you were lucky to be sitting in the end pews nearest to the aisles you got more wet than most.

One priest I knew years ago would use blessed salt mixed with the Holy Water.
Half jokingly he would say that’s to make the Holy Water stick to those who needed it most.

Lol; maybe the priest wasn’t wrong after-all. Who knows; maybe those who got soaked more were the worst sinners and needed it despite their complaining and whining.

OK; maybe a few had to clean their eye glasses.
 
I’m surprised Jack Chick didn’t put out a tract stating that the Jesuits were the first to invent and use waterboarding.:rolleyes:
 
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