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| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Besides theholy water which is used by theChurch in so many of her rites of blessing, and besides the water employed in thewashing of feet and hands and in thebaptismal font, water has its recognized place in the ritual of every Mass and in a certain number of pontifical and extraordinary offices which include some form of washing.
With regard to the water mingled with the wine in the Mass, the Fathers from the earliest times have tried to find reasons why theChurch uses a mixedchalice though the Gospel narrative implies that Christconsecrated pure wine.St. Cyprian (Ep. lxiii, 13) discussing this question sees an analogy to the union of Christ with His faithful people, but, as theCouncil of Trent points out (Sess. XXII, De Missa, vii), there is besides this a reference to the flowing of blood and water fromChrist's side, from which theChurch, the dispensatrix of thesacraments, was formed, like a new Eve from the side of the new Adam. It was probably in allusion to the former symbolism (i.e. the union of the people with Christ) that the earlier "Ordines romani" directed the choir (schola cantorum) to present water at theOffertory of the Mass. We may note also that it has long been the practice of the GreekOrthodox Church to pour a little hot water into thechalice immediately before the Communion, and though there seems no reliable evidence for any such custom in the early centuries, the absence of this usage among the Latins is made by the Greeks a serious ground of reproach. In the purification of thechalice, water is again used in the second of the ablutions, but the present practice according to which the ablution of wine and water is drunk by thepriest did not always obtain in theMiddle Ages. On the other hand there was a very general custom of providing water, or wine and water, for the communicants to drink as a "purification" after Communion. In fact this is prescribed in the existingrubrics of theMissal (Rit. ser., X, 6), though the"Caeremoniale episcoporum" onEaster Day speaks of a purification of wine alone. Further, a strictlyliturgical use of water is also made in such offices as the laying of the foundation stone of a church and theconsecration of a cemetery, though here the blessing consists only of the fiveprayers commonly used for making ordinaryholy water. In the blessing of a bell, however, and in the dedication of a church special features occur. In the case of the bell an entirely newprayer, "Benedic, Domine, hanc aquam", is inserted, and with the water thusconsecrated the bell is afterwards completely washed inside and out. For theconsecration of a church a special lustral water is prepared after thebishop has entered the building, and the various ingredients, viz. salt, water, ashes, and wine, before being mixed together, are blessed withprayers which differ entirely from those employed in the case ofholy water for common use. This lustral water is sprinkled while thebishop seven times makes the circuit of the altar and three times that of the interior of the church. The rite of washing thehigh altar onMaundy Thursday is performed in the Romanbasilicas and some other churches with a certain solemnity, and was in old times an even more noteworthy function than at present. For this purpose wine and sometimes rose water were employed as well as the pure element. Again at the opening of the holy doors in the Romanbasilicas when the year of jubilee begins, the penitentiaries, provided with sponges and towels, wash and wipe the threshold, after the previously obstructed door has been unwalled. Less strictlyliturgical is the use of water which is blessed with various special formulae for devotional purposes. The official "Rituale romanum" contains a number of suchblessings, for example "Modus benedicendi aquam" with other similar formulae inhonour of St. Adelhaid,St. Willibrord, St. Vincent Ferrer etc., particularly. The purpose of this is generally medicinal and there is in particular a long blessing of the "water ofSt. Hubert" against the bite of a mad dog.
The reader may be referred to the books mentioned in the articleHOLY WATER; cf. Also SCHROD in Kirchenlexikon, s.v. Weihwasser; THALHOFER, Liturgik (Freiburg, 1883-93); and for the Middle Ages especially FRANZ, Die kirchlichen Benediktionem (Freiburg, 1909). See further the commentaries of CATALANI, Pontificale Romanum (Paris, 1850); and Rituale Romanum (Rome, 1757); and THURSTON, The Laity and the Unconsecrated Chalice in The Month (October, 1911).
APA citation.Thurston, H.(1912).Liturgical Use of Water. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15564a.htm
MLA citation.Thurston, Herbert."Liturgical Use of Water."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 15.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1912.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15564a.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by Thomas M. Barrett.In Thanksgiving for the Water of Life.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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