Holy Water: Meaning, Blessing and Use at Home

At the entrance of Catholic churches stands a stoup, and whoever enters dips his fingers into it and makes the sign of the cross. Since ancient times the faithful have also been allowed to take this blessed water home with them. What actually is it, what is it made of, what does the Church ask for when she blesses it, and how is it rightly used at home? This guide answers with the Rituale Romanum, the Church's book of rites, and with St Thomas Aquinas.

What is holy water?

Holy water is water that a priest has mixed with blessed salt and blessed with prayers according to the Rituale Romanum. The Church counts it among the sacramentals, that is, the blessed things through which, by her intercession, she obtains effects that are chiefly spiritual.

The 1917 Code of Canon Law defines sacramentals as things or actions which the Church uses in a certain imitation of the sacraments “in order to obtain through her intercession effects that are chiefly spiritual” (can. 1144). It is therefore not an eighth sacrament. St Thomas Aquinas explains that blessed water is not called a sacrament because it does not lead to grace itself; it is, however, a preparation for the sacraments, for it is ordained “against the snares of the demons and against venial sins” (Summa theologiae III, q. 65, a. 1 ad 6; our translation).

In the life of the faithful, blessed water is met everywhere: in the stoup at the church door, at the Asperges before the Sunday High Mass, at almost every blessing, at the sickbed and at the grave.

What is holy water made of?

Holy water is made of pure water and salt. Following the Rituale Romanum, the priest first blesses each separately with an exorcism and a prayer, then casts the salt into the water three times in the form of a cross and says a closing prayer. The ordinary blessing knows no other ingredients.

The salt recalls the prophet Eliseus. When the men of Jericho complained about their bad water, he cast salt into the spring and said: “Thus saith the Lord: I have healed these waters” (4 Kgs 2:21, Vulgate; Douay-Rheims).

The exorcism over the salt appeals to precisely this: God had the salt cast into the water through Eliseus “that the barrenness of the water might be healed” (our translation). This exorcism is an adjuration in the name of God by which the Church commands all evil to depart from the creature. It is not an exorcism of the possessed; for such an exorcism can. 1151 requires a special and express permission of the Ordinary.

What does holy water do?

Holy water is not a magic charm. What the Church asks for at the blessing, that evil spirits depart and sickness is kept away, she obtains through her prayer and the devout disposition of the one who uses it. St Thomas Aquinas teaches that its devout use contributes to the remission of venial sins.

The prayer over the water states exactly what the Church asks for: that God may pour into the water the power of His blessing, “so that whatever this water sprinkles in the homes or places of the faithful may be free from all uncleanness and delivered from harm” (our translation). The petition is addressed to God, not to the water.

St Thomas Aquinas explains why the devout use of holy water contributes to the remission of venial sins: because it is accompanied by a “movement of reverence towards God and divine things” (Summa theologiae III, q. 87, a. 3) and inclines the soul to contrition (ad 1). In someone who still clings inwardly to a venial sin, the forgiveness of that sin can be hindered (ad 2). Everything therefore depends on the devotion with which it is used.

“In a third way, in so far as they are accompanied by a movement of reverence towards God and divine things; and in this way the episcopal blessing, the sprinkling of holy water, every sacramental anointing, prayer in a consecrated church and anything else of this kind contribute to the remission of sins.”

St Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae III, q. 87, a. 3; our translation from the Latin

Where do you get holy water?

You get holy water at your own parish church. According to the Rituale Romanum, the faithful may take it home in their own vessels. As a rule the parish church gives it free of charge; even when blessed things are sold, canon law forbids the blessing to be counted in the price.

The Rituale Romanum says so expressly: the faithful may “take some of this holy water in their vessels and carry it with them, to sprinkle the sick, houses, fields, vineyards and other things, and to keep it in their rooms, so that they may sprinkle themselves with it daily and more often” (Tit. VIII, cap. 2, no. 5; our translation). When blessed things are sold, under the 1917 Code of Canon Law the blessing may not be taken into account in fixing the price (can. 1539 § 1).

Two kinds of blessed water have their own day. The so-called Easter water is blessed at the Easter Vigil for the baptismal font; what is drawn off before the holy oils are poured in serves for sprinkling the people after the renewal of baptismal vows, on Easter Sunday and in the home. Epiphany water is blessed on the eve of the Epiphany with a proper, longer blessing reserved to the Ordinary or his delegate; it is distributed to the faithful so that they may devoutly use it “in their rooms and also for the sick” (our translation).

How do you use holy water at home?

At home holy water is used above all for the daily sign of the cross, for instance at night prayers, and for sprinkling the sick and the rooms. You dip your fingertips in and sign yourself: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”

For this sign of the cross the Church grants an indulgence of seven years, or of three years without holy water (Preces et pia opera, no. 678; last confirmed by the Sacred Penitentiary on 14 June 1949). No further works are prescribed for it; but, as for every indulgence, one must be in the state of grace (CIC 1917, can. 925 § 1). Beyond this, following the Rituale, families sprinkle the sick, the rooms, the fields and the vineyards. A fitting place for the vessel is the home altar beside the cross and a statue, or the front door.

The collection of indulgenced prayers translated into German by Michael Haringer (Regensburg 1865) provides that at night prayers one should here make the sign of the cross and sprinkle oneself with holy water “if one has some at hand” (translated from the German), and then pray:

Visita, quaesumus Domine, habitationem istam, et omnes insidias inimici ab ea longe repelle; Angeli tui sancti habitent in ea, qui nos in pace custodiant; et benedictio tua sit super nos semper. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Visit, we beseech thee, O Lord, this dwelling, and drive far from it all the snares of the enemy; let thy holy Angels dwell herein to keep us in peace; and may thy blessing be always upon us. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Latin: Preces et pia opera 1952, no. 62 (from the Roman Breviary, with the short conclusion); English: our translation from the Latin. The German edition of this guide gives the translation with a longer conclusion from: Sammlung von Gebeten und frommen Werken, translated by Michael Haringer, 2nd edition, Regensburg 1865, night prayers, p. 65 f.

The prayer comes from the Roman Breviary. Whoever devoutly prays it in the evening gains an indulgence of five years, and whoever prays it daily for a month a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions: confession, Holy Communion, a visit to a church or public oratory and prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father (Preces et pia opera, no. 62).

What is a holy water stoup?

A holy water stoup is the vessel in which holy water stands ready for signing oneself. In church it stands at the entrance; at home a small stoup usually hangs beside the door. The household stoup is often made of porcelain or metal and adorned with a cross or an angel.

Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon of 1909 describes exactly this form: smaller vessels “in the living rooms of Catholics, of various materials (e.g. silver, porcelain) and in various forms (e.g. a cross or an angel as the support), usually hanging beside doors” (translated from the German). The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1910 describes the stoups for private houses as smaller than the portable stoups of churches; in later times, it says, they were usually given the form of a small round basin on a wall plate.

Such a stoup needs care. Because the water stands open, empty it regularly, clean the stoup and refill it with fresh holy water. We recommend pouring any remainder not down the sink but onto the soil of the garden or of a flowerpot.

Mentioned in this article St Michael the Archangel, wall picture Black and gold, matt print in A5 or A4, without a frame. View the wall picture

How long has holy water existed?

Holy water has been attested in the Church since the 4th century. The Sunday blessing of water before Mass was ordered by Pope Leo IV in the 9th century. The Asperges, the sprinkling of the people before High Mass, has been in use at least since the 10th century.

Leo IV ordered: “Every Sunday before Mass make holy water, with which the people and the places of the faithful may be sprinkled” (our translation from the Latin). So the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1910 reports. A letter handed down under the name of Pope Alexander I (2nd century) it considers spurious. The Asperges itself begins with the verse from Psalm 50: “Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow” (Ps 50:9, Douay-Rheims).

According to the 1962 Missal, before the Sunday High Mass the priest sprinkles first the altar, then himself, the servers, the clergy and the people. In Eastertide the antiphon Vidi aquam takes the place of the Asperges me: “I saw water flowing forth from the temple, from the right side.”

Frequently asked questions about holy water