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What In The World Is Holy Water?!

It's Sunday morning....you wake up, get dressed, and head to church. For those of you that are Catholic, you walk through the front (or side) door, dip your fingers in the holy water, make the sign of the Cross, and then head to your usual pew. Hold up...rewind...you dip your fingers in holy water?! What is that about?! I guess it is just another one of those crazy, superstitous, ritualistic Catholic traditions... Man, what are we going to do about those poor Catholics :-)

Okay, wait a minute we Catholics know why we use holy water, right? Unfortunately, many of us don't.

So here's a crash course on the use of holy water (references to more in-depth explanations will come at the end).

What Is Holy Water?

Holy Water is water that has been blessed by a priest. It is a sacramental , i.e. a "sacred sign which bears a certain resemblance to the sacraments, and by means of which spiritual effects are signified and obtained through the prayers of the Church" (CCC, 1667).

Why Is Holy Water Used?

1. It is a reminder of our Baptism. In making the sign of the Cross when using Holy Water we are reminding ourselves of our commitment to the Christian way of life, the way of Cross.

2. It is a symbol of interior cleansing. In baptism, Holy Water is poured over the individual as a sign of the actual effect of the Sacrament, the cleansing of the soul of all sin. Using Holy Water on a regular basis is a symbol of that cleansing and our desire to be continuously cleansed through Christ's life-giving Grace that we receive through the Sacraments.

3. It prepares us and properly disposes us to receive grace. Using Holy Water, especially as we enter the church on our way to Mass, should create in us that proper focus and disposition that is necessary when participating in the Mass. We remind ourselves of our baptism, of our need for continual cleansing, and then we participate in that "perfect" act of worship where we receive the very "source" of all grace, namely Christ Himself.

4. It wards off evil. Holy Water, being blessed by the priest, can be used to exorcise the presence of evil. "When the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in the name of Jesus Christ that a person or object be protected against the power of the Evil One and withdrawn from his dominion, it is called exorcism (CCC 1673). In the blessing of Holy Water, the priest publicly and authoritatively prays for these things. Now, this DOES NOT mean that Catholics should whip up their bottles of Holy Water and run around the world trying to perform "major" excorisms. "Major" exorcisms can only be performed by a priest with the permission of the bishop (cf. CCC 1673). However, it does mean that the blessing invoked over the water by the priest is applicable to the individual who uses this sacramental.

What does Holy Water not do?

Holy Water does not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacrament of Baptism does, rather, by the Church's prayer, it prepares us to receive grace and disposes us to cooperate with it (cf. CCC 1670).

References

Holy Water - provides a good history of the use of holy water.

Holy Water - provide a detailed overview.

In Christ,
Joe