The Easter Season brings with it a fresh stream of holy water. From the blessing of the waters of Baptism at the Easter Vigil to the Sprinkling Rite optionally used in place of the Penitential Act, the Easter Season is flooded with this sacramental. We use it every time we enter a church, and many of us make use of it outside the liturgy. In my home, we use a lot of holy water. So what exactly is holy water and what can we do with it?
To begin with, holy water is a sacramental, a sign of grace instituted by the Church to give us divine help and to prepare us to receive the grace of the sacraments that Jesus instituted. Sacramentals look like and are related to the sacraments, as holy water primarily reminds us of Baptism because of its use during the rite. Sacramentals do not give us the grace of the Holy Spirit which the seven sacraments do give. However, they do give actual grace, a specific divine help in a specific situation. Sacraments rely on the saving work of Jesus to be effective while sacramental rely on the prayer of the Church to be effective.
Holy water is ordinary water that carries the blessing of the Church so that where it is sprinkled it brings that blessing. A blessing is simply a request of God to give his help and presence to someone or through the use of something. When ordinary water is blessed, it is made holy, set apart for the sacred purpose of calling down the Lord’s help and presence and reminding us of our own Baptism. This is why holy water is often used to bless other objects. Just as Baptism has set us apart for a sacred purpose, so the statue, image, or rosary blessed by holy water is set apart to help us draw closer to the Lord.
We can see all of this clearly in the prayer of blessing that makes water holy. When the blessing takes place outside of Mass, the priest or deacon will pray, “Grant that, when we are sprinkled with this water or make use of it, we will be refreshed inwardly by the power of the Holy Spirit and continue to walk in the new life we received at Baptism” (Book of Blessings, no. 1396). The older form of this blessing makes even more explicit how holy water assists us to live a Christian life, praying that the water will be “able to root out and displace the enemy himself with his apostate angels.” The purpose of holy water is to strengthen our spirits so that we can live out our Baptism.
We bless ourselves with holy water upon entering a church to remind us of our Baptism and also as a symbolic washing away of worldly cares as we enter into sacred space. We can similarly bless ourselves with holy water whenever we are tempted to sin. Through the intercession of the Church, sprinkling holy water can call down the blessing of God on a physical place: an entire home, a room, a doorway, etc. By doing so, we chase away the devil and his influence over our homes and possessions, recalling the prayers of exorcism during a Baptism. And we can use holy water to call down this same divine assistance upon a person: a spouse, a child, someone celebrating a birthday or a sacrament anniversary, someone who is sick, etc.
In my home, I use holy water nightly to bless my children at bedtime. Before I go to bed, I also go to each bedroom door sprinkling holy water on either side while praying that the Lord would set his angels as guards over this door and all who are inside it. My children have their own bottles of holy water beside their beds as well to bless themselves if they have a bad dream. Many Catholic homes have a holy water font near the main entrance to the home, similar to a church since the home is the Domestic Church. This practice is also similar to the Jewish practice, rooted in Deuteronomy 6:9, or putting small Torah scrolls on the doorposts of the home.
Our largest single use of holy water is our annual home blessing. We do it on Epiphany, but the Easter Season is another traditional time to bless a home. When a priest or deacon is not available to bless our home, we happily do it ourselves, sprinkling generous amounts of holy water in every single room, bathrooms included, and asking the Lord to bless all the specific activities of that space.
However you may choose to use holy water, its use can be a great benefit. It extends the almost-liturgical action of entering a church into your home or office, and it sets aside the space of home or office, and the work to be undertaken there, as a holy action offered to the Lord. Holy water invites the Lord’s presence, protection, and providence into every space and upon every person who receives it. It is the great sacramental that reminds us of Jesus’s victory over the powers of sin and death, of the remission of our own sins, of our adoption as children of God, and of the Lord taking up residence within our souls through the great sacrament of Baptism.
