Poll: Holy Water at home?

[Meggie]

space ghost:

how are you using it?

All I do is make the sign of the cross…but my mom feels that holy water must stay in church except for extreme circumstances like last rites

 

[tom.wineman]

naprous:

Ok, so what makes this water holy, anyway? And how would one use it if one had it? And why?

If I sound suspicious, it’s partly because I recently visited a church in Sardinia which was built on top of a pagan well of the Nuraghic period (remains having recently and spectacularly excavated), and the church has a well inside it connected to the other well. Obviously, the site had been a pagan holy site, which was turned into a Christian site (there are many of these converted holy sites in Sardinia – as St. Gregory the Great recommended, by the way) in order to encourage the “former” pagans to visit the site.

But not being a water-worshipper, I don’t get it. Yes, I was baptised, but according to my understanding, you could have baptised me with Evian or water from the gutter, and I would be just as validly baptised. So what’s with the holy water?

Naprous

Killjoy Use it to wash the bitterness from you.

 

[naprous]

tom.wineman:

Killjoy Use it to wash the bitterness from you.

Why are people on this site SO nasty? I am truly shocked by the level of un-civil discourse here. Obviously not just this thread, but

I truly DON’T understand holy water. No one has ever explained it to me before, and I didn’t grow up in a Catholic family or in an Catholic environment. I just did a web search on sacramentals and came up with an article from the old Catholic Encyclopedia that I didn’t find all that informative. I happen to be a historian, and I happen to be interested in syncretism. This “my way or the highway” attitude on here is definitely off-putting.

You know, just because someone doesn’t agree with you doesn’t mean you have to be so incredibly rude.

Naprous

 

[squirt]

naprous:

Why are people on this site SO nasty? I am truly shocked by the level of un-civil discourse here. Obviously not just this thread, but

I truly DON’T understand holy water. No one has ever explained it to me before, and I didn’t grow up in a Catholic family or in an Catholic environment. I just did a web search on sacramentals and came up with an article from the old Catholic Encyclopedia that I didn’t find all that informative. I happen to be a historian, and I happen to be interested in syncretism. This “my way or the highway” attitude on here is definitely off-putting.

You know, just because someone doesn’t agree with you doesn’t mean you have to be so incredibly rude.

Naprous

Ya know, using a phrase like “not being a water-worshipper” might convey a condescending or belittling attitude towards those for whom the use of such a sacramental might be important … rudeness isn’t necessarily overt …

 

[Marauder]

naprous:

Why are people on this site SO nasty? I am truly shocked by the level of un-civil discourse here. Obviously not just this thread, but

I truly DON’T understand holy water.

Not everyone on the board acts with “un-civil discourse”. A lot of us try to answer questions with a degree of civility, charity, and humbleness. But it may get lost among people that don’t. I have on occasion found myself getting caught up in the emotion, but I try to remember the real purpose. Some people also use humor and forget that not everyone realizes that since we can’t see people’s mood.

You can not let an internet community that ANYONE can join affect your vision of the church.

On to the topic of Holy Water. Holy Water is water that has been blessed by a priest. You will usually find it in little basins at the entrance to most Catholic churches. It is a sacremental, that’s primary purpose is to remind us of our Baptism. As a person above mentioned there are numerous other uses for it (i.e. blessing objects, use by priests trained in exorcism, etc.)

There are lots of technicalites that go along with Holy Water (i.e. whether adding water to Holy Water makes the new water holy, etc.) which I don’t have time to go into right now since I have to go back to work. If you want to know more details feel free to ask.

 

[naprous]

squirt:

Ya know, using a phrase like “not being a water-worshipper” might convey a condescending or belittling attitude towards those for whom the use of such a sacramental might be important … rudeness isn’t necessarily overt …

Touché, Squirt. Yes, I guess I really don’t get this holy water thing, and it does remind me in an uncomfortable way of the syncretism of the medieval Church.

Thank you, Marauder, for explaining the technical issue that I honestly did not know.

Naprous

 

[Mike_C]

As a Byzantine or Eastern Catholic, we have our holy water blessed by the priest on Jan. 6th (the feas of the Baptism of Chris in the Jordan). We call this holy water “Jordan Water”.

Later, the priest comes to our homes and blesses our homes. Many people drink this water to cure their ailments. We Christians should live our lives as Christians every day, not just for 55 mins. on Sunday. This blessing, as well as religious articles (“sacramentals”) reminds us of our life in Christ.

 

[Melissa]

When we moved into our current house, we ended up moving earlier than originally planned (nice, as the old place was an apartment w/ a severely leaking roof the landlord didn’t want to fix)–but my oldest son kept saying that he was seeing something like a ghost in the house at night.

We had our house blessed (on the originally scheduled date), and after that, my oldest never saw this ghost thing again. Whether it was a product of his imagination (our current home had been vacant for 4 years prior to our taking possession, and neighborhood kids told him it was haunted) or something more–I don’t know.

We have our holy water font, but I don’t leave the house daily, so it’s not used by me on a daily basis.

In my parish, there’s a fairly large silver thing (I have no idea what the proper name of it is) which contains holy water which is explicitly intended for parishioners to take home (or for taking elsewhere, like expectant moms wanting to take some w/ them to the hospital) as needed.

 

[Weezir]

My in laws went to Portual, France, and Spain last fall and brought us holy water from Lourdes…so last Christmas we got our family a font. WE LOVE IT! It is right in our entrance and at elbow level so kids use it too. It touches my heart to see one of them go get a bottle of holy water to refill the font. We only recently put a small sponge in it as the water seems to evaporate very quickly.
I encourage at least one in your home.
~Weezir

 

[space_ghost]

naprous:

Touché, Squirt. Yes, I guess I really don’t get this holy water thing, and it does remind me in an uncomfortable way of the syncretism of the medieval Church.

Thank you, Marauder, for explaining the technical issue that I honestly did not know.

Naprous

hey, you don’t have to believe… to those that don’t believe there is no explanation… to those that do, no explanation is necessary… old verse, but approiate…

we just hope you stick around here a while and get wet…

why are you showing suspended… they have inadvertently suspended some by accident yesterday… and i was one of those, but they un-suspended me and told me they were sorry, computer problems… yours might be the same issue…

 

[dream_wanderer]

I want to take some holy water home from church but I’m not sure what kind of container to use. What do you all use…and how much do you take? Does the container have to be blessed? Should it be glass???

dream wanderer

 

[DJJG]

There is no special bottle, or material, that you must use.
The container does not have to be blessed.:nope:

Just make sure that it is clean.:yup: I use one of those water/juice bottles, with a pull up sipper spout, which makes it easy to open and pour, and have labeled the bottle “Holy Water,” so no one mistakes it for something else.

The big metal tanks or resivoir, in the back of the church, filled with holy water, is there for anyone who wishes to take some home. The water is blessed at the Easter Vigil, but if it runs out the priest fills it back up and blesses some more. The holy water fonts in the church are also filled from here.

 

[SJP_in_Texas]

naprous:

Hmm. I hate to say it, Nel, but those stories remind me of something out of an early medieval saint’s life, or possibly Caesarius of Heisterbach from the twelfth century. And while I love what early medieval saints’ lives tell us about early medieval beliefs about possession by spirits, I don’t use them as a model for my daily actions. I do like that Italian proverb, though – I’ll definitely have to ask my Italian husband about that!

So is holy water font just a do-it-yourself home exorcism kit, folks, or does someone else want to contribute another explanation? And tell me more about blessing the water.

Naprous

---

I have a bottle of holy water at home, and while I don’t use it often, I did happen to pick it up and use it when making the sign of the cross before I left for work this morning (don’t know why - first time I’ve done it this way.) Anyway, I’ve been planning to purchase a little font to keep inside the door so the kids & I can use it - basically to recall our baptism and the baptismal promise to reject Satan & all his works and to profess our faith.

The reason I quoted the comments above was because I read the book on exorcism, too. It is written by an Italian priest who is an exorcist. I have often heard that Satan’s greatest victory was convincing (deceiving) people to believe he doesn’t exist. The author of the book cites the failure of pastors to properly teach their flocks about the presence of evil. It’s actually a very interesting read.

This might be an interesting topic to discuss in another thread…

 

[redkim]

I use a Holy Water font that I bought in Knock, Ireland at the Shrine of Our Lady of Knock. It’s in my bedroom, by my door, so I don’t forget to bless myself with it before I leave for the day.

 

[SHJ-BVM]

Your poll didn’ t offer enough options…LOL…I have three fonts in my home…one by the main entrance…one inside my bedroom…and one inside my chapel…yep folks, you read that right…I have a small chapel in my house…I am fortunate enough that I have enough room to dedicate one WHOLE room to make a chapel right here to worship in when the weather gets too bad (and it HAS)…

I will add more fonts to other rooms as money allows…I am fortunate enough to have a local shrine with a gift shop…now it’s just a matter “of WHEN the money allows” LOL

 

[misericordie]

DJJG:

There is no special bottle, or material, that you must use.
The container does not have to be blessed.:nope:

Just make sure that it is clean.:yup: I use one of those water/juice bottles, with a pull up sipper spout, which makes it easy to open and pour, and have labeled the bottle “Holy Water,” so no one mistakes it for something else.

The big metal tanks or resivoir, in the back of the church, filled with holy water, is there for anyone who wishes to take some home. The water is blessed at the Easter Vigil, but if it runs out the priest fills it back up and blesses some more. The holy water fonts in the church are also filled from here.

TRUE, BUT!!! Careful, some priests put the Holy water in the fonts without it being properly blessed. One baby boomer aged priest told me once, “I don’t bless it, it will be blessed by it(the water) just being here in church.” I wonder which seminary taught that priest?? I guess the teachers were confused. The BEST Holy Water is the one that comes fresh from the Easter Vigil(where the Pascual candle was put into), and then if at home, one can add the exorcisized salt. THESE should be MIXED.

 

[DJJG]

misericordie:

TRUE, BUT!!! Careful, some priests put the Holy water in the fonts without it being properly blessed. One baby boomer aged priest told me once, “I don’t bless it, it will be blessed by it(the water) just being here in church.” I wonder which seminary taught that priest?? I guess the teachers were confused. The BEST Holy Water is the one that comes fresh from the Easter Vigil(where the Pascual candle was put into), and then if at home, one can add the exorcisized salt. THESE should be MIXED.

Hey that’s pretty similar to a pastor I had in the 60"s, he would not bless anything (rosaries, medals, stues, etc.) because "you bless them by using them. :nope:
So we just took them to another priest. I wonder if those two priests went to the same seminary?:banghead:

 

[misericordie]

DJJG:

Hey that’s pretty similar to a pastor I had in the 60"s, he would not bless anything (rosaries, medals, stues, etc.) because "you bless them by using them. :nope:
So we just took them to another priest. I wonder if those two priests went to the same seminary?:banghead:

I would not waste my time with a “priest” who refuses to bless anything. Did he refuse to consecrate too? I wonder if he is still a priest? I actually take my medals, etc.(all aloud and approved by the Church such as the Green Scapular, Brown Scapular, the Miracoulous medal etc,) to REAL priests, which I first screen for orthodoxy(usually the recently ordained, or the ones who bless using Holy water) by knowing them in conversation, Masses etc. I don’t just go to ANY priest for blessings OR MASS.

 

[Lonevoice]

I don’t have a font, although I’ve intended to get one for the longest time. My Holy Water is in a flask with a Cross on it that I picked up at a church fund raiser. It holds maybe 2 1/2 oz.

 

[naprous]

misericordie:

I don’t just go to ANY priest for blessings OR MASS.

You do realize, Misericordie, that that’s the heresy of Donatism?

Naprous