Holy Water in the home

[zab]

I know someone who dissolved the blessed salt in Holy Water and used it to put a layer of salt on a statue of the Blessed Mother. Blessed salt is something I’m not at all familiar with. Can you or someone else give us the background?

Blessed salt is a sacramental used in exorcisms. It used to be used during the prayer of exorcism before Baptism. My pastor mixed blessed salt in the water that he blessed to be used in the Holy Water fonts at Church and in the dispensing can for people to fill their bottles to take home.

 

[Alexander_Roman]

Dear Friends in Christ and His Most Holy Mother,

There is a tradition many of those of the Byzantine tradition follow with both Holy Water and Blessed Bread that is distributed after Divine Liturgy from the bread that was not used in Holy Communion.

In the early years of the Church, Christians would actually take Holy Communion home with them to keep and to commune themselves and their families with every morning after prayer. This practice was discontinued (as per St John Chrysostom) and blessed antidoron was used instead.

If one is doing a Reader’s Service Typika, by oneself or with others, then holy water and blessed bread may be distributed “in place of Holy Communion” together with kissing of the Most Precious Cross and the Holy Icons.

As I’ve had some “ghostly encounters” at my home following renovations (voices, loud knocking, scraping sounds and the last one over Christmas with the lights turning on by themselves . . .), Holy Water is the best defence and protection.

Don’t be home without it!

Alex

 

[Corki]

I carry a 1 oz micro bottle of holy water with me in my laptop bag.

Sign myself with it all the time. Satan hates it.

-Tim-

I have one of those too. I try especially to remember to fill it before traveling.

One year my kids asked for Holy Water fonts for Christmas. They wanted their patron saints. Unfortunately their first names are not those of common saints but I found fonts in the form of both of their middle names.

I unfortunately attend one of those parishes where the Holy Water is removed for Lent. Thanks for the timely reminder that I need to fill up my bottles to get me through to the Easter Vigil.

 

[dlltoms]

We never had a Holy Water font in our home. My mom had a special jar of salt she always kept in the cabinet in her kitchen and every pot of coffee she made she would put a few grains in the coffee before it was brewed. Always wondered why everyone said my mom made the best cup of coffee around.

 

[zab]

We never had a Holy Water font in our home. My mom had a special jar of salt she always kept in the cabinet in her kitchen and every pot of coffee she made she would put a few grains in the coffee before it was brewed. Always wondered why everyone said my mom made the best cup of coffee around.

Years ago, we had a visiting priest (now deceased) who gave a parish mission and on the last day, he blessed salt for us to use as a sacramental. He told us that we could, among other things, put it on food, but not to use it when cooking the food. That seems to differ from what Fr. Z wrote on his blog. However, everything else he wrote is very informative. See: wdtprs.com/blog/2009/03/quaeritur-blessed-salt/

 

[PattiDay]

How ironic. I was just wondering about this yesterday as I was at a Catholic store and wanted to buy a font for my home. However, since I never saw one in anyone’s home, I didn’t really know what to think of it. Now I know! I actually was thinking of putting it in my walk-in closet, I have religious statues, pics, etc in my home but felt this was more “personal”. Would that be disrespectful?

No, it would not be disrespectful. I have a walk in closet that I have been thinkin about making into a little oratory, a small table as a shrine with my beautiful Blessed Mother statue, rosary, crucifix and other sacramentals, so I can go in and quietly pray, as it says in the Bible (I’m paraphrasing here), “When you pray to the Lord, go into your closet.”

 

[dailey]

No, it would not be disrespectful. I have a walk in closet that I have been thinkin about making into a little oratory, a small table as a shrine with my beautiful Blessed Mother statue, rosary, crucifix and other sacramentals, so I can go in and quietly pray, as it says in the Bible (I’m paraphrasing here), “When you pray to the Lord, go into your closet.”

Thanks for the reply! I think your idea about making a shrine sounds wonderful for a walk-in closet.

 

[Alexander_Roman]

Dear Friends,

One thing comes to mind after reading your posts here. Some of us may not have grown up with traditions like holy water fonts et alia. But that doesn’t mean we can’t create our own home traditions and pass them onto our friends, children etc.

I try to do this when I teach Saturday religion class. Recently, my classes did a project on everyone one’s patron saint, their lives, a picture of them, their feastday.

An integral part of that project is how they would celebrate their namesday saint (whether or not they actual do now).

Then we move to the next step - actually setting up a small shrine in their rooms to their patron saint, going to Mass on their patron saint’s feastday, keeping a picture or a medal of their patron saint on their person, perhaps having a small party etc.

Their parents are very happy with all this . . .

I found it particularly interesting that so many students want to include a holy water font as part and parcel of their little home shrines . . .

My students constantly amaze me with the depth of their spirituality.

Alex

 

[Alexander_Roman]

No, it would not be disrespectful. I have a walk in closet that I have been thinkin about making into a little oratory, a small table as a shrine with my beautiful Blessed Mother statue, rosary, crucifix and other sacramentals, so I can go in and quietly pray, as it says in the Bible (I’m paraphrasing here), “When you pray to the Lord, go into your closet.”

This is a very good idea! We should even name such a place after a patron saint or a title of Our Lady. It is truly a “home church or chapel.” As I live on the corner of Blythwood and Mildenhall roads, I’ve named mine “Our Lady of Mildenhall and St Blythe.” (There was a medieval shrine to Our Lady of Mildenhall in England . …).

My aunt had a rather large room that served as her home chapel, with lots of pictures, rosaries and relics (which I inherited after the dear lady died - she fell down dead in her chapel . . . ).

She had it formally blessed by a priest.

In my Church, it is the tradition to have an “icon corner” where the Eastern-most corner of the house has icons on both sides (traditionally such corners would have icons/images of Our Lady on the left and those of our Lord on the right, much like an iconostasis would, with images of Saints as well).

When we enter a home, it is also traditional not to say any word of greeting to the hosts until we’ve gone over to their icon corner to make the appropriate Sign of the Cross and brief invocations first.

Alex