Is there a canonical requirement to have holy water in the hand fonts?

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Brendan_64

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There seems to be an issue in my parish, with a reluctance to provide holy water in the fonts in our church (either in the hand fonts or in the baptismal font). I was wondering is there a canonical requirement that there is holy water in the hand fonts (or in the baptismal font) of a Catholic church?
 
When I see an empty hand font I grab the insert and fill it up from the main font in the narthex. Problem solved.

-Tim-
 
But what if the main font is empty as well? There is no holy water at all in our church.
 
Brendan_64 said:
But what if the main font is empty as well? There is no holy water at all in our church.
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What’s the thread about?! If the hand font is empty then just go and ask someone to fill it up. They will no where all the water is! 😃
 
I think the poster would like to know if this is addressed in canon law? Or in some governing policy?
 
Convert1 said:
I think the poster would like to know if this is addressed in canon law? Or in some governing policy?
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Maybe there is, but I hope not…Canon Law discussions get so darn ugly in this place…all the legalists crawl out of the woodwork wagging their fingers at us!
 
Neofight said:
Maybe there is, but I hope not…Canon Law discussions get so darn ugly in this place…all the legalists crawl out of the woodwork wagging their fingers at us!
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Of course they wag their fingers at you when you simply get so many things wrong that it takes several of us to step in and correct you so that others aren’t misled.
 
Convert1 said:
I think the poster would like to know if this is addressed in canon law? Or in some governing policy?
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There appears not to be. Actually, Catholic.com has a tract that addresses it, essentially noting that in some Churches Holy Water is removed after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and in others it is taken out during all of Lent (notice Corki’s Parish does it the former, and my parish the later).

Regardless, there is no canonical requirement for the presence of Holy Water.

Hope this helps.
 
Neofight said:
There appears not to be. Actually, Catholic.com has a tract that addresses it, essentially noting that in some Churches Holy Water is removed after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and in others it is taken out during all of Lent (notice Corki’s Parish does it the former, and my parish the later).

Regardless, there is no canonical requirement for the presence of Holy Water.

Hope this helps.
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No, my parish does the latter, in clear and defiant disobedience to the CDW. 😦
 
Neofight said:
Maybe there is, but I hope not…Canon Law discussions get so darn ugly in this place…all the legalists crawl out of the woodwork wagging their fingers at us!
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Yeah, better to not have cannon laws at all. right!
 
Corki said:
No, my parish does the latter, in clear and defiant disobedience to the CDW. 😦
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I’ve often heard that anything seemingly in clear defiance of the CDW, is not that significant of an issue, if decisive action does not come down from higher authority.

Maybe this is one of those issues?

The only reason I am not overly concerned, because it doesn’t appear to be an action that would make any sacrament illicit or invalid, however, that’s my opinion, and I certainly I could see it as a bit disconcerting if tradition (as opposed to the Capital T Tradition, which we all are bound to obey) is important to one, and rightfully so.

Peace and all good!
 
friardchips said:
What’s the thread about?! If the hand font is empty then just go and ask someone to fill it up. They will no where all the water is! 😃
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You’re missing the point. There is not a drop of holy water in the church, not a single drop. There is no holy water kept in the sacristy in order to fill the fonts. This isn’t a case of not knowing where the holy water is in order to fill up the fonts, this is a case of no holy water being made available at all.

My question is, is there a canonical requirement for the parish priest to provide holy water for anything other than when baptising?

It seems that my question has been answered. Sadly it seems that the fonts in our church can be lawfully be left dry all year round, which does not seem right at all 😦
 
Brendan_64 said:
You’re missing the point. There is not a drop of holy water in the church, not a single drop. There is no holy water kept in the sacristy in order to fill the fonts. This isn’t a case of not knowing where the holy water is in order to fill up the fonts, this is a case of no holy water being made available at all.

My question is, is there a canonical requirement for the parish priest to provide holy water for anything other than when baptising?
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Holy water is needed for funerals, does he bless it as he goes? Or does he forgo sprinkling the casket?
 
Brendan_64 said:
Yes indeed, laws and rules result in finger wagging. Best do away with all laws and rules and let everyone do as they please.
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Finger wagging and telling someone they are wrong is the unforgivable sin. The only one that is truly evil… Every thing else can be rationalized and nuanced away!😃

How horrible would each parish be if they followed the laws of the Church… Oh the horror!
 
I don’t know what it says in Canon Law (note that “canon” only has one “n” at a time - this is referring to a collection of things that are related to each other in an important way; not to a weapon of war) - however, Father John Zulsdorf (who was employed at one time as a secretary in the office of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and also moderated “Catholics Online” during the same period of time) has a blog in which he discusses the practice (forbidden) of removing Holy Water from the fonts during Lent - which seems to suggest an expectation of holy water in the fonts at all times outside of Lent for sure, and ideally, also during Lent, until the end of the Holy Thursday Mass, and reappearing again after the Easter Baptisms.
 
Brendan_64 said:
You’re missing the point. There is not a drop of holy water in the church, not a single drop. There is no holy water kept in the sacristy in order to fill the fonts. This isn’t a case of not knowing where the holy water is in order to fill up the fonts, this is a case of no holy water being made available at all.

My question is, is there a canonical requirement for the parish priest to provide holy water for anything other than when baptising?

It seems that my question has been answered. Sadly it seems that the fonts in our church can be lawfully be left dry all year round, which does not seem right at all 😦
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I see. Well, I don’t know, but I do think it is an important question. Surely there must be some rule that specifies as such. I would have thought so anyway because it certainly seems odd that there is none at all anywhere. Hopefully someone will chime in with a definite answer. You could always ask your priest if he has any and ask whether it is a Church requirement as you feel strange entering and leaving without it. If there are nuns around the place then you could ask one as they would know the answer.
 
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