Where's the holy water?

[ajcoley1]

Is it my imagination or do churches not have Holy Water anymore? Other than fonts at the entrance I mean. In the parish where I grew up there’s a cistern for people to get Holy Water. (I used to wonder why there was a big soup pot in the church.) Not in area churches where I live. I don’t think I’m supposed to take water from the fonts. What happened to that blessing your home/child with holy water?

 

[maryj]

“Ask” and you shall receive. Sorry couldn’t help myself Seriously though, ask someone at your local church, I’m sure they will point you in the right direction. Our Holy Water is kept next to our Baptismal font.

 

[adrift]

Is it my imagination or do churches not have Holy Water anymore? Other than fonts at the entrance I mean. In the parish where I grew up there’s a cistern for people to get Holy Water. (I used to wonder why there was a big soup pot in the church.) Not in area churches where I live. I don’t think I’m supposed to take water from the fonts. What happened to that blessing your home/child with holy water?

We still have the cistern. Why don’t you ask the pastor?

 

[ajcoley1]

We don’t have a baptismal font. I love baptism masses- but the deacon brings the water in a glass bowl, sets it on a table & the baby is baptised. It’s really a neat thing to see, but myabe I’m old-fashioned. No, our church just plain doesn’t have one. So is blessing with Holy Water not a big deal anymore??

 

[maryj]

We don’t have a baptismal font. I love baptism masses- but the deacon brings the water in a glass bowl, sets it on a table & the baby is baptised. It’s really a neat thing to see, but myabe I’m old-fashioned. No, our church just plain doesn’t have one. So is blessing with Holy Water not a big deal anymore??

Well the Deacon’s getting that water from somewhere! Give him a try. And Blessing with Holy Water will always be a big deal.

 

[SMHW]

There are all kinds of reasons why a particular parish wouldn’t have a cistern to fill holy water bottles. I don’t recall that the parish in which I grew up (1960s) had one in an area that was assessable to the public. You had to ask.

My current parish has a baptismal pool with a circulating fountain. People just dip their personal bottles into either the pool or the raised fountain.

 

[Matrix_Refugee]

Occam’s Razor: the simplest explanation is the most logical and most likely the correct one. They might simply have run out; we’re coming up on Lent, and I remember correctly, the priests cannot bless any new holy water until Holy Saturday. In the meantime, if you need any, simply contact your pastor and ask for some.

 

[jc-servant]

My church didn’t have someplace where we could fill bottles until about 8 years ago when our new building had a circulating font put in. We just filled our large container with water and had the priest bless it for us. He was happy to do so and it only took a sec. I still see the older Mexican ladies bringing huge containers of water in to be blessed because they have multiple fonts at home that require a large source to refill them. (Our fonts evaporate fast in TX.)

Now many people fill their small bottles from our big font at the back of the church, but we have holy water at all of the doors of the main church and the 2 chapels in smaller glass fonts that must be frequently refilled. I don’t think that anyone is playing hide the ball with the holy water.

 

[ajcoley1]

Thanks for all the responses!

 

[Numinous]

Well the Deacon’s getting that water from somewhere! Give him a try. And Blessing with Holy Water will always be a big deal.

Maybe the deacon is just making it. He is ordained and can therefore bless holy water himself.

 

[ajcoley1]

Maybe the deacon is just making it. He is ordained and can therefore bless holy water himself.

Yes he IS just making it. That’s somehow part of baptism now. THe deacon walks down the aisle with the bowl over his head, the priest says a blessing, then the baprism.

The whole point of my question was that I’d already asked when would be an appropriate time for Father to bless water, since there didn’t seem to be any for us to take & “he simply doesn’t have time for that.” It seems it’s not important anymore, combined with not seeing any in the churches I’ve visited, except for the fonts by the doors.

 

[Numinous]

There was a time when a priest wouldn’t do anything without the use of holy water, right?

 

[LilyM]

There was a time when a priest wouldn’t do anything without the use of holy water, right?

What, like confect the Eucharist? Give a homily/sermon? Administer the sacrament of Confession? I don’t recall Holy Water ever being used at Benediction either.

 

[ajcoley1]

There was a time when a priest wouldn’t do anything without the use of holy water, right?

As a child the priest used to carry a bottle when he visited the catecism class. (C’mon, I wasn’t that bad.)

 

[Numinous]

I meant any type of blessing.

 

[LilyM]

I meant any type of blessing.

Benediction IS a blessing - one is blessed directly by Jesus on the Eucharist when the minister makes the sign of the cross with the monstrance. In fact that’s the reason he wears the garment which covers his hands - to emphasise that it is Christ directly blessing us and not the minister himself.

In fact the very word ‘Benediction’ MEANS ‘blessing’ :getholy:

 

[Jennifer_G]

Is it my imagination or do churches not have Holy Water anymore? Other than fonts at the entrance I mean. In the parish where I grew up there’s a cistern for people to get Holy Water. (I used to wonder why there was a big soup pot in the church.) Not in area churches where I live. I don’t think I’m supposed to take water from the fonts. What happened to that blessing your home/child with holy water?

Our parish has a cistern, or at least a box-thingy where you can pour Holy Water into a bottle. It’s in the narthex near one of the entrances (that really isn’t used anymore - kind of turned into a small storage room). There’s also a baptismal font in the front part of the sanctuary next to the Blessed Virgin Mary statue and Paschal Candle.

My cousin’s church has holy water on the back of the last pews. It’s a smaller church though, and doesn’t have much of a narthex.

There’s another church in the area that has a large holy water container just outside of the basement chapel or one of the hallways.

 

[Spirithound]

You can always bring your own water in and have it blessed.

 

[drforjc]

Benediction IS a blessing - one is blessed directly by Jesus on the Eucharist when the minister makes the sign of the cross with the monstrance. In fact that’s the reason he wears the garment which covers his hands - to emphasise that it is Christ directly blessing us and not the minister himself.

In fact the very word ‘Benediction’ MEANS ‘blessing’ :getholy:

I’m pretty sure the poster was referring to blessing items, places, etc. Typically the item or place was sprinkled with holy water as part of the blessing.

 

[EvelynEVF]

Ours disappeared for a while, and it turned out that the spigot was leaking! It’s back now

It doesn’t take long to “make” holy water. Maybe the priest turned you down because he thought you were asking for something in the context of the Mass? Perhaps he or the deacon would be willing to bless a bottle for you. If not, is there another parish where you might ask?