The Blessing of Water (catolico)

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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).

 

H. LECLERCQ

Transcribed by Michael T. Barrett

Dedicated to Fr. Hugh Marshall

 

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VII

1910 by Robert Appleton Company

Online Edition 2003 by K. Knight

Nihil Obstat, June 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor

Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York