Does your parish still put sand in the holy water fonts?

[Michie]

If there are any priests out there who remove Holy Water from the stoops in church for Lent…

KNOCK IT OFF!​

And if you, dear readers, go into a church and you see this idiocy… for the love of God, DON’T bless yourself with SAND.

We get the powerful theology of its use in the older Rituale Romanum in the prayers for exorcism of the water and salt used and then the blessing itself. I wrote about this in an article for the WDTPRS series and it is on this blog.

The rite of blessing holy water, in the older ritual, is powerful stuff. It sounds odd, nearly foreign to our modern ears, especially after over 30 years of being force fed ICEL pabulum.

You are a soldier and pilgrim in a dangerous world. What is Lent for? Spiritual discipline and war, right?

So why… why… why would these dopey liturgists and priests REMOVE a tool of spiritual warfare precisely during the season of LENT when we need it the most??

Holy Water is a power weapon of the spiritual life against the attacks of the devil.

Holy water is a sacramental.

It is not a toy, or something to be abstained from, like chocolate …. which is the stuff of a childish Lent.

Continued- http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/03/dumb-liberal-idea-3464-reason-583739-for-summorum-pontificum-removing-holy-water-during-lent/

 

[CruciFixed]

Nope our priest leaves Holy Water where it belongs

 

[Gwendolyn]

The only day when there should not be holy water is on Good Friday.

 

[Memento Mori]

The holy water is gone now. I'm bringing my own for the rest of Lent.

 

[JoabAnias]

No but I remember one Church that put damp sponges in the fonts.

 

[Michie]

The holy water is gone now. I'm bringing my own for the rest of Lent.

Ours is gone on Good Friday. It's there the rest of the time. But I got a 2 quart stash at home.

 

[Memento Mori]

No but I remember one Church that put damp sponges in the fonts.

What??? That is silly...

You know, I was reading the comments on this article and now I am really tempted to pour a little water in when no one's looking (ours aren't filled with sand). Would that be wrong?

 

[JoabAnias]

What??? That is silly...

You know, I was reading the comments on this article and now I am really tempted to pour a little water in when no one's looking (ours aren't filled with sand). Would that be wrong?

It was kind of creepy too. The feel of the sponge was unexpected so a bit freaky to stick your finger in a font and feel something other than water. I thought someone put gum in there at first until I looked. I guessed it was to keep them from drying out as quickly. Who knows what gets in peoples minds. Like Holy water is expensive now or something.

 

[Dylan Michael]

Ours is not gone. But I do recall it being gone last Good Friday, I don't know if it was for Good Friday, or if it was coincidental.

 

[AMDG]

A long time ago my civilian parish tried the sand route. My gentle husband kept calling the sand in the holy water font a "cat litter box". Those responsible probably may have just come to their senses and stopped doing it on their own, but it *has* been years since we have had to suffer through that atrocity.

 

[Gwendolyn]

I used to attend a parish that had holy water-soaked sea sponges in the fonts. I'm not sure why, but the sponges were funny.

 

[AMDG]

I used to attend a parish that had holy water-soaked sea sponges in the fonts. I'm not sure why, but the sponges were funny.

Nearly every military chapel that I've been to uses sponges in the holy water fonts. It's to keep the water from slooshing out of the little fonts.

 

[Colin]

I'm glad it says that abstaining from chocolate is the stuff of a childish lent .

 

[JimR-OCDS]

No but I remember one Church that put damp sponges in the fonts.

I remember that.

Jim

 

[Michie]

I've never seen a sponge in a Holy Water font. What would be the purpose in that?

Do they think baptism is a sponge bath?

 

[JimR-OCDS]

I've never seen a sponge in a Holy Water font. What would be the purpose in that?

Do they think baptism is a sponge bath?

I believe they thought it made the water last longer in that instead of dipping your finger into water, you would just be dampening your finger with the holy water.

I recall that the sponges got dirty and rather gross over time before they were changed.

Jim

 

[AMDG]

I've never seen a sponge in a Holy Water font. What would be the purpose in that?

Well, if the water slooshes out onto the floor, their could be a slip-and-fall.

 

[Colin]

Ours is not gone. But I do recall it being gone last Good Friday, I don't know if it was for Good Friday, or if it was coincidental.

It would be Good Friday .

The fonts are emptied at the end of Maundy Thursday , and filled again with the water blessed at the Easter Vigil .

 

[CruciFixed]

It was kind of creepy too. The feel of the sponge was unexpected so a bit freaky to stick your finger in a font and feel something other than water. I thought someone put gum in there at first until I looked. I guessed it was to keep them from drying out as quickly. Who knows what gets in peoples minds. Like Holy water is expensive now or something.

Maybe its just me but sponges seem gross....I keep thinking bacteria infested....even if it is holy water.

I'm glad it says that abstaining from chocolate is the stuff of a childish lent .

Yeah my mom said she was giving up chocolate for Lent. I guess she couldn't think of anything else.

I gave up something "childish"
fast food
and red meat.

 

[JoabAnias]

Maybe its just me but sponges seem gross....I keep thinking bacteria infested....even if it is holy water.

Nope, I thought the same thing. It seems a sponge would soak up germs to me.

I am trying to fast on impatience and feast on kindness.