Last Sunday, the Mulier Fortis quite properly gave away the remains of our holy water to a lady who came with a large container. She then arranged things in the sacristy for the blessing of a new supply while the altar servers were all still there after the Latin Mass.In this post Summorum Pontificum era, there is no longer any need for scruples about using the older form of the blessing. Mac has the translation at her post.
I wonder mischievously whether this holy water might cause a surprise to complacent demons. Having got reasonably used to the water blessed in the spirit of "let's remember salvation", it is amusing to think of the shock when a family take home and scatter around some exorcised salt 'n water mix over which has been invoked the name of "Him Who will come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire."
Run, Wormwood, RUN!
8 comments:
I have been using the older form of blessing and exorcism for a number of years and many of my parishioners have commented about the difference it has made - the devil certainly knows!
Father, how do we get some of this Holy Water? I have some salt blessed and exorcised in the old rite, which I use and which I am conserving as far as possible. [It was sent to me from the US and I have lost the contact who sent it.] I would love to have some 'proper' Holy Water in my home. I still have some water from Lourdes from 1988, still clear and clean in the same container I filled - but not, as far as I know, blessed.
Our parish priest at the time of dad painting his copy of the sistine chapel ceiling used the older form of blessing Holy Water - Dad mixed up all his acrylics with it so the entire sistine chapel ceiling in Goring was painted with Holy Water. We like to imagine it dripping down it's graces on vistors and sending demons fleeing when they slip in unaware!
Splendid !
I'm all for it.
I've never been too sure about novus ordo holy water.
Ages ago, there was a (semi-serious) discussion about this on someone's blog.
One commenter made the useful suggestion that water which had first been exorcised was more receptive to being blessed, and therefore probably more efficacious.
A nice point, I thought.
Hi Fr Tim, I'll be over for the Missa Cantata and afterwards can I please refill my empty 5-Gallon Lourdes plastic cannister with your 'Super' Holy Water!
Keep that up, Father, and I'll be asking you to send me some. I'll send you postage... :P
My wife and I were just recently talking about blessed salt (how we got there, I'll never know!). The one thing I don't know, however, is how one goes about getting blessed salt these days. I understand it's still a part of the new blessing, but ... I just don't ever hear anyone say anything about it. It's not like one finds a blessed salt holder in the church or anything - at least I've never seen one...
If you flip a few pages forward through this book, you'll see these prayers in 17th century English.
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