A Few of the Top Uses of Holy Water
By - Posted on September 23, 2012“From long experience I have learned that there is nothing like holy water to put devils to flight and prevent them from coming back again. They also flee from the Cross, but return; so holy water must have great virtue. For my own part, whenever I take it, my soul feels a particular and most notable consolation.” – St. Teresa of Avila
When I read this quote from St. Teresa of Avila, I was reminded of the importance of holy water. I think that most of the time we take holy water for granted. This water is blessed by GOD! It can banish demons, heal the sick, and send unwarranted grace upon us, and yet most of the time I just cross myself with it without even thinking. The fact of the matter is that holy water is a powerful sacramental and we ought to use it daily. Here is a list of some important ways to use holy water in your everyday life.
St. Teresa of Avila
1. Bless yourself – Yes this suggestion is obvious, but if we are only blessing ourselves on Sunday, then aren’t we missing out on the rest of the week? You can never have too much grace or blessings in your life. I am a huge advocate for home holy water fonts so that you and your guests can be blessed in your comings and goings to and from your home. Use it every day! If you haven’t considered getting a holy water font for your home or the home of a loved one, then you ought to consider it.
2. Bless your house – If you haven’t taken the time to bless your house with holy water, then no time is better than the present. Now I wouldn’t bless my house primarily to keep it from destruction, natural disasters, or from feeling the effects of aging, but rather I would bless it as a measure to ward off evil spirits. They do exist, as St. Teresa says, “I have learned that there is nothing like holy water to put devils to flight.” You can sprinkle holy water in your home yourself, or have a priest formally bless your home using holy water as part of the blessing ceremony.
3. Bless your car - I will be the first to admit that I am not the most defensive driver, and yet up until this point I have managed to avoid getting pulled over by the police and, more importantly, I have avoided getting into an accident. Call me crazy, but I think that the holy water applied to the cars that I have driven might have a little something to do with it. You can also have a priest bless your car with holy water as well!
4. Bless the sick – If you know of any sick friends or family, then I urge you to consider blessing them with holy water. The holy water from Lourdes is known to have incredible healing power, and of course regular holy water has many healing properties as well because it is blessed by a priest. There are lots of holy water bottles available to help you transport the water to the homes of your loved ones.
Holy water is one of those beautiful things that we have simply become used to and have therefore taken for granted, like the Eucharist, saintly intercession, the rosary, the Catholic Bible, etc. Hopefully if we stop and think of what a great blessing holy water is for us, we will use it more thoughtfully and gratefully! How do you use holy water in your life? Do you have a holy water font in your home?
Copyright 2012 Kathleen Wellman
This made me smile. A friend of mine brought back a bottle of holy water from Lourdes, which I kept in my night stand drawer until I was married. After I started having babies, it some how ended up in the diaper bag. When a some one asked me why I kept it there, I replied, “a Catholic mother has to be prepared for anything”. Did I drive off evil spirits with it Buffy style? No. But I did bless a few sick kids…
Was very sick for the last two weeks, sinsus hurting, earaches, led to a very high fever (102 F). coughing, sore throat. Put Holy Water from Our Lady of Lourdes all over my throat, on the glands under the ears, over my sinsus. Woke up the next morning…. fever gone, had chest x-ray done…. neg. Did not need antibiotics, or any medicine. Amazing, how each day, it got better . I knew that morning when I awoke, it was the Holy Water. It turned around so quickly. I can only Thank Jesus and Mary for this great Blessing. I know How bad I felt and how soon it regrouped. Thank you Blesed Mary and Jesus.
Mine has gone in coffee, gravy and other foods requiring water. I have used it to bless my house, car, kids and various articles. I have a dear priest friend who blesses a big jug of it (with the approved blessings of the Church, and with blessed salt) so I don’t have to empty the container at Church. Holy water is such an awesome gift to Catholics!
I agree 100%!! My husband and I use holy water daily. We bless ourselves before leaving the house. We also bless our car, our house (especially before a storm), and when we pray. I blessed my car once before driving home at night in the pitch dark on the highway in a severe thunderstorm with torrential rain. I made it home safe too with the help of my guardian angel. Holy water is powerful! Great article!
Thank you Paula, Bernice, and Sherry!
I had a fairly recent and uncanny first encounter with a Monk actually, (I think? At least he had a hooded robe on with a rope tied around his waste?), when I went to get a Saint Benedict’s Rosary at the Portland, OR Grotto. This was suggested to me by someone who thought I really needed it in a more supernatural kind of way. Too long to explain. Anyway, I’m not Catholic but I did as she said and bought some things from the gift shop and had them blessed along with my gold Saint Christopher’s necklace and wedding ring. I guess I should have read “How To Be Blessed By A Priest” before I went because I was not prepared for what happened next. First I was expecting to walk in and to the back of the old store to see if a priest had time to come out to bless my items but they called ahead and someone had just walked in so I could do it. On my way down there were many tourists, etc., and I saw what I think was a monk but he was just standing outside on the path watching me walk towards the place I needed to be. As I got closer, I just knew he was waiting for me personally. I thought maybe it was because I had a little gift bag but when I looked around, so did many others. This was quite odd I thought. As I came closer someone was holding the door open for me to come in and when I hesitated, he motioned me towards him. So, kind of freaked out I went to him and he led me into a tiny office with nothing but a desk and a chair. Not even any paper! I put my stuff out on the desk and he said a prayer and put holy water on them. This is the part that came out of nowhere, he squared off with me, took one step back and said a prayer in another language, Latin I’m guessing and proceeded to squirt lots of cold Holy Water over my face and chest three times. It was cold and I was shocked so I caught my breath, said thank you and left. What should I have done? And, why did he throw the water on me? Don’t they only do that to Linda Blair in “The Exorcist” or something? How did he know I was the one he was waiting for? Don’t priests where black with a white collar most of the time? This was all around a strange experience but I have heard though that Holy Water when used to bless objects doesn’t “wear off” like other religious blessings. I have a new hand carved Saint Benedicts Rosary from Italy because someone stole mine off my bedside table after a surgery in the hospital. I’m not going to let the cold water in the face detour me from having it blessed. I usually rap it around my wrist on some nights before sleep and hold the Cross in the palm of my hand. Okay, so is this how a person would normally be blessed?
Thanks and take care,
Trina