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Holy water

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A Thai student pouring the holy water on his two hands at Erawan shrine, Bangkok

Holy water is water that has been blessed by a member of the clergy or a religious figure, or derived from a well or spring considered holy. The use for cleansing prior to a baptism and spiritual cleansing is common in several religions, from Christianity to Sikhism. The use of holy water as a sacramental for protection against evil is common among Catholics,[1][2] Eastern Christians, and some Protestants.

By religion

Sikhism

One of the holiest sites in Sikhism, Harmandir Sahib, is surrounded by a pool of water called amritsar or amritsarovar (sarovar means sacred water and amrit means "sacred" and to add onto sarovar, it would mean sacred water). For those who wish to take a dip in the pool, the Temple provides a half hexagonal shelter and holy steps to Har ki Pauri (god's steps). Bathing in the pool is believed by many Sikhs to have restorative powers, purifying one's karma.[3] Some carry bottles of the pool water home particularly for sick friends and relatives. The pool is maintained by volunteers who perform kar da seva (house's duty or ਕਾਰ ਦਾ ਸਿਵਾ) by draining and desilting it periodically.

Sikhs use the Punjabi term amrita (ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ) for the holy water used in the baptism ceremony known as Amrit Sanskar or Amrit Chhakhna.[4]

Hinduism

The significance of water in Hinduism is described in the hymn called the mantra pushpam, present in the Taitiriya Aranyakam section of the text Yajurveda. Bathing in holy water is a key element in Hinduism, and the Ganges is considered the holiest Hindu river.[5] Holy water in Hinduism is thought to purify the soul and combat evil. Some Hindus use holy water to wash hands before ringing a bell.

Buddhism

The idea of "blessed water" is used in virtually all Buddhist traditions. In the Theravada tradition, water is put into a new pot and kept near a Paritrana ceremony, a blessing for protection. This "lustral water" can be created in a ceremony in which the burning and extinction of a candle above the water represents the elements of earth, fire, and air.[6] This water is later given to the people to be kept in their home. Not only water but also oil and strings are blessed in this ceremony. Most Mahayana Buddhists typically recite sutras or various mantras (typically that of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara for example) numerous times over the water, which is then either consumed or is used to bless homes afterwards. In Vajrayana Buddhism, a Bumpa, a ritual object, is one of the Ashtamangala, used for storing sacred water sometimes, symbolizing wisdom and long life.[7][8]

Islam

The Muslim variety of holy water is the Zamzam water that comes from a spring near the Kaaba in Mecca.

The drinking of "healing water" (āb-i shifā) is a practice in various denominations of Shia Islam.[9] In the tradition of the Twelver Shi'a, many dissolve the dust of sacred locations such as Karbala (khāk-i shifa) and Najaf and drink the water (āb-i shifā) as a cure for illness, both spiritual and physical.[9]

The Ismaili tradition involves the practice of drinking water blessed by the Imam of the time. This water is taken in the name of the Imam and has a deep spiritual significance. This is evident from the names used to designate the water, including light (nūr) and ambrosia (amṛt, amī, amīras, amījal). This practice is recorded from the 13th and 14th centuries and continues to the present day. The ceremony is known as ghat-pat in South Asia.[9]

Judaism

Water rituals are common in Judaism, including Mikvah, Netilat Yadayim, and Mayim Acharonim. There is not a particular concept of holy water being different than any other water, and water used in rituals can be discarded in any manner. In fact, natural flowing waters such as rivers and the ocean can be used for both ritual bathing, and taking possession of new kitchen tools.

Mandaeism

In Mandaeism, mambuha (Classical Mandaic: ࡌࡀࡌࡁࡅࡄࡀ), sometimes spelled mambuga, is sacramental drinking water used in rituals such as the masbuta (baptism), while halalta (Classical Mandaic: ࡄࡀࡋࡀࡋࡕࡀ) is sacramental rinsing water used in rituals such as the masiqta (death mass).[10][11]

Others

In Ancient Greek religion, holy water called khernips (Greek: χέρνιψ) was created when a torch from a religious shrine was extinguished in it. In Greek religion, purifying people and locations with water was part of the process of distinguishing the sacred from the profane.[12]

In Wicca and other ceremonial magic traditions, a bowl of salt is blessed and a small amount is stirred into a bowl of water that has been ritually purified. In some traditions of Wicca, this mixture of water and salt symbolizes the brine of the sea, which is regarded as the womb of the Goddess, and the source of all life on Earth. The mixture is consecrated and used in many religious ceremonies and magical rituals.[13]

In the Kingdom of Barue (modern-day Mozambique) during the late-18th and 19th centuries, the last event of a Makombe’s (king's) installation involved the Makombe fasting for three days, reportedly to learn about hardship. After this, a Portuguese representative brought a flask of holy water (mazia manga, lit. 'water that binds'), and poured it over the head of the Makombe, believed to imbue him with sacred qualities. The Makombe was then to choose between a bow and arrow, and a hoe, wherein choosing the hoe meant peaceful relations. André Van Dokkum wrote that this may have been introduced after a war during the 1760s between the Barue and the Portuguese, and was intended to foster good relations between the two.[14][15]: 39–40 Allen Isaacman considered it unclear whether this was an indigenous tradition or a syncretisation with Christianity, however he pointed to the Barue's historical resistance to Portuguese influence and interference as evidence of the former.[14]

Unofficial uses

Holy water has also been believed to ward off or act as a weapon against mythical evil creatures, such as vampires and werewolves. In eastern Europe, one might sprinkle holy water onto the corpse of a suspected vampire in order to destroy it or render it inert.[16][17] Thereafter, the concept proliferated into fiction about such creatures.

See also

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

The use of Holy Water in the earliest days of the Christian Era is attested by documents of only comparatively late date. The "Apostolic Constitutions", the redaction of which goes back to about the year 400, attribute to the Apostle St. Matthew the precept of using holy water. The letter written under the name of Pope Alexander I, who lived in the second century, is apocryphal and of more recent times; hence the first historical testimony does not go back beyond the fifth century. However, it is permissible to suppose for the sake of argument that, in the earliest Christian times, water was used for expiatory and purificatory purposes, to a way analogous to its employment under the Jewish Law. As, in many cases, the water used for the Sacrament of Baptism was flowing water, sea or river water, it could not receive the same blessing as that contained in the baptisteries. On this particular point the early liturgy is obscure, but two recent discoveries are of very decided interest. The Pontifical of Scrapion of Thumis, a fourth-century bishop, and likewise the "testamentum Domini", a Syriac composition dating from the fifth to the sixth century, contain a blessing of oil and water during Mass. The formula in Scrapion's Pontifical is as follows: "We bless these creatures in the Name of Jesus Christ, Thy only Son; we invoke upon this water and this oil the Name of Him Who suffered, Who was crucified, Who arose from the dead, and Who sits at the right of the Uncreated. Grant unto these creatures the power to heal; may all fevers, every evil spirit, and all maladies be put to flight by him who either drinks these beverages or is anointed with them, and may they be a remedy in the Name of Jesus Christ, Thy only Son." As early as the fourth century various writings, the authenticity of which is free from suspicion, mention the use of water sanctified either by the liturgical blessing just referred to, or by the individual blessing of some holy person. St. Epiphanius (Contra haeres., lib. I, haer. xxx) records that at Tiberias a man named Joseph poured water on a madman, having first made the sign of the cross and pronounced these words over the water: "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, crucified, depart from this unhappy one, thou infernal spirit, and let him be healed!" Joseph was converted an subsequently used the same proceeding to overcome witchcraft; yet, he was neither a bishop nor a cleric. Theodoret (Hist. eccl., V, xxi) relates that Marcellus, Bishop of Apamea, sanctified water by the sign of the cross and that Aphraates cured one of the emperor's horses by making it drink water blessed by the sign of the cross ("Hist. relig.", c. viii, in P.G., LXXXII, col. 1244, 1375). In the West similar attestations are made. Gregory of Tours (De gloria confess., c. 82) tells of a recluse named Eusitius who lived in the sixth century and possessed the power of curing quartan fever by giving its victims to drink of water that he had blessed; we might mention many other instances treasured up by this same Gregory ("De Miraculis S. Martini", II, xxxix; "Mirac. S. Juliani", II, iii, xxv, xxvi; "Liber de Passione S. Juliani"; "Vitae Patrum", c. iv, n. 3). It is known that some of the faithful believed that holy water possessed curative properties for certain diseases, and that this was true in a special manner of baptismal water. In some places it was carefully preserved throughout the year and, by reason of its having been used in baptism, was considered free from all corruption. This belief spread from East to West; and scarcely had baptism been administered, when the people would crown around with all sorts of vessels and take away the water, some keeping it carefully in their homes whilst others watered their fields, vineyards, and gardens with it ("Ordo rom. I", 42, in "Mus. ital.", II, 26).

However, baptismal water was not the only holy water. Some was permanently retained at the entrance to Christian churches where a clerk sprinkled the faithful as they came in and, for this reason, was called hydrokometes or "introducer by water", an appellation that appears in the superscription of a letter of Synesius in which allusion is made to "lustral water placed in the vestibule of the temple". This water was perhaps blessed in proportion as it was needed, and the custom of the Church may have varied on this point. Balsamon tells us that, in the Greek Church, they "made" holy water at the beginning of each lunar month. It is quite possible that, according to canon 65 of the Council of Constantinople held in 691, this rite was established for the purpose of definitively supplanting the pagan feast of the new moon and causing it to pass into oblivion. In the West Dom Martène declares that nothing was found prior to the ninth century concerning the blessing and aspersion of water that takes place every Sunday at Mass. At that time Pope Leo IV ordered that each priest bless water every Sunday in his own church and sprinkle the people with it: "Omni die Dominico, ante missam, aquam benedictam facite, unde populus et loca fidelium aspergantur" (P.L., CXV, col. 679). Hincmar of Reims gave directions as follows: "Every Sunday, before the celebration of Mass, the priest shall bless water in his church, and, for this holy purpose, he shall use a clean and suitable vessel. The people, when entering the church, are to be sprinkled with this water, and those who so desire may carry some away in clean vessels so as to sprinkle their houses, fields, vineyards, and cattle, and the provender with which these last are fed, as also to throw over their own food" ("Capitula synodalia", cap. v, in P.L., CXXV, col, 774). The rule of having water blessed for the aspersion at Mass on Sunday was thenceforth generally followed, but the exact time set by Leo IV and Hincmar was not everywhere observed. At Tours, the blessing took place on Saturday before Vespers; at Cambrai and at Aras, it was to be given without ceremony in the sacristy before the recitation of the hour of Prime; at Albi, in the fifteenth century, the ceremony was conducted in the sacristy before Terce; and at Soissons, on the highest of the sanctuary steps, before Terce; whereas at Laon and Senlis, in the fourteenth century, it took place in the choir before the hour of Terce. There are two Sundays on which water is not and seems never to be blessed: these are Easter Sunday and Pentecost. The reason is because on the eve of these two feasts water for the baptismal fonts is blessed and consecrated and, before its mixture with the holy chrism, the faithful are allowed to take some of it to their homes, and keep it for use in time of need.

BARRAUD, De l'eau benite et des vases destines a la contenir in the Bulletin monumental, 4th series, vol. VI (1870), p. 393-467; PFANNENSCHMIDT, Weihwasser im heidnischen und christlichen Cultus (Hanover, 1869).

References

  1. Back to citation "Tracts on Principles of Divine Worship: No. 3. The Sprinkling of Holy Water". New York: Men's Guild, St. Ignatius' Church. Retrieved 13 January 2013. “Holy water has no power to beautify the soul here in time and the body in eternity, as Penance and the Eucharist have; but for those who reverently use it, having the right dispositions of faith and contrition, it has power to banish demons, dispel their deceits and vexations, cleanse the soul from stain of venial sins, avert earthly ills (other than those which God allows for our good), and to promote our temporal welfare.”
  2. Back to citation Theiler, Henry (1909). Holy Water and Its Significance for Catholics. Ratisbon, New York: F. Puster & Co. Reprint: Sophia Institute Press, 2016. ISBN 0-7661-7553-7 pp. 13-15.
  3. Back to citation "Holy water – Aqua Sorb 💦💧🌊♒︎". 2024-02-15. Retrieved 2025-05-26.
  4. Back to citation Sikhism, 2004, by Geoff Teece ISBN 1-58340-469-4 page 7
  5. Back to citation Hinduism, 2004, by Geoff Teece ISBN 1-58340-466-X page 22
  6. Back to citation "Buddhism in Thailand: Lustral Water". Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
  7. Back to citation Smithsonian Institution. "Buddhist ritual sprinkler (kundika) <Internet>". Archived from the original on 21 June 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2007.
  8. Back to citation The British Museum. "Stoneware kundika (water sprinkler) <Internet>". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2007.
  9. Back to citation occurrence 9.0 Back to citation occurrence 9.1 Back to citation occurrence 9.2 Virani, Shafique. The Ismailis in the Middle Ages: A History of Survival, A Search for Salvation (New York: Oxford University Press), 2007, pp. 107–108.
  10. Back to citation Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2002). The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515385-5. OCLC 65198443.
  11. Back to citation Burtea, Bogdan (2008). Zihrun, das verborgene Geheimnis (in German). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 978-3-447-05644-1. OCLC 221130512.
  12. Back to citation Greek religion: archaic and classical, by Walter Burkert, John Raffan 1991 ISBN 0-631-15624-0 page 77
  13. Back to citation Wicca for Life: The Way of the Craft -- From Birth to Summerland, 2003, by Raymond Buckland ISBN 0-8065-2455-3 page 85
  14. Back to citation occurrence 14.0 Back to citation occurrence 14.1 Isaacman, Allen (1973). "Madzi-Manga, Mhondoro and the use of oral traditions—a chapter in Barue religious and political history". The Journal of African History. 14 (3): 395–409. doi:10.1017/S0021853700012792. ISSN 1469-5138.
  15. Back to citation Dokkum, André Van (2020). "The Kingdom of Barue: The Desire for Independence". Nationalism and Territoriality in Barue and Mozambique: Independence, Belonging, Contradiction. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-42863-8.
  16. Back to citation Bonnerjea, Biren. A Dictionary of Superstitions and Mythology, Folk Press Limited, 1927, p. 242. Archived 2014-03-14 at the Wayback Machine
  17. Back to citation Library of universal knowledge: A reprint of the last (1880) Edinburgh and London edition of Chambers' encyclopaedia, with copious additions by American editors, Volume 14. American Book Exchange (Original from Harvard University), 1881, p. 804.

Further reading

  • (Mother) Mary; Ware, (Archimandrite) Kallistos (Tr.)(1998). The Festal Menaion (reprint), pp 348–359. South Canaan: St. Tikhon's Seminary Press. ISBN 1-878997-00-9.
  • Isabel Florence Hapgood (Tr., ed.)(1983). Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church (6th ed.), pp 189–197. Englewood: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese.
  • Collectio Rituum ad instar appendicis Ritualis Romani pro dioecesibus Statuum Foederatorum Americae Septentrionalis. Milwaukee: Bruce (1954)
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