Talk:Holy water

message: This is a decent article as far as it goes, but I see a couple ways it could be improved:
* It should also discuss the role of holy water in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
* While there is lots here about the mechanics and rules etc. regarding holy water, there is little or nothing of the theology that underlies its use.
* Anyone want to take a stab at why Protestants don't bless water, or use holy water? Do Lutherans or Anglicans  use it?
I'll work on these areas as time allows, but help is always welcome. Something to think about: how should the Catholic and Orthodox sections be organized; how little or much should they be split?  For example, the Orthodox bless holy water at Theophany (January 6) each year, not Easter, and distribute it at that time. Thus it's connected with Jesus' baptism. The bit about the different sorts of holy water (Gregorian etc.) sounds pretty close, but they probably have different names for them at the least. Wesley 05:36, 23 Jul 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: Lack of information is the chief reason why I did not address Orthodox holy water.  :)  Holy water is addressed only briefly in the Catechism of the Catholic Church; I will add a reference to it.  Some history of the practice might also be nice.  Smerdis of Tlön 13:26, 23 Jul 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Possible additions

message: I have no problem with this section as such, but do we really need to provide transcripts of dialogue from multiple TV shows? TCC (talk) (contribs) 07:38, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: The opposite of holy water is cursed water, or "unholy water". To obtain it, drop bottles of tap water on a non-aligned altar (e.g. if you are Christian, use a Muslim or Buddhist altar), then pray. Note that this may be dangerous in several ways. Muad 04:15, 16 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Popular culture 

message: "Aside from other substances that may be added to the water as it is blessed, holy water is indistinguishable from ordinary water[citation needed]." Why does a citation need to be added to that? The chemical make up does not change at all, unless the person blessing the water has particularly bad breath and breathes near it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.18.153.215 (talk) 23:17, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The Roman Catholics add salt. In the Orthodox Baptismal rite, but not at other time when holy water is blessed, oil is poured in as the water is blessed. In those cases, you can detect either salty or oily water, so to that extent the water is distinguishable. But it beats me why anyone would think a cite is needed for such a trivially true statement. TCC (talk) (contribs) 23:44, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Introduction

message: I understand that holy water has a different density than normal water.   What is the difference?   In theory, I would assume that the molecules in holy water would have more energy, and therefore be less dense than normal water...   This logic seems sound, assuming that the blessing adds energy.  Doesn't this make sense? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 159.178.50.186 (talk • contribs).
:In a word, no. TCC (talk) (contribs) 21:12, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Density 

message: In the first paragraph: "... holy water is water which has been passed by a priest..." I don't know enough about the subject to say one way or the other, so I haven't changed it; while the word may be used in the context of "passed quality control", 'passing water' is a wee bit different. --StarChaser Tyger (talk) 06:30, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  I've reverted that vandalism before. :( jonathon (talk) 11:57, 29 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Possible vandalism? 

message: I think a section describing how and when Holy Water came into use would be very helpful.  Does anyone have any sources for this?  Paulistano (talk) 03:40, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I'll get back on that, but an old Catholic tradition says the use of holy water came from St. Matthew. We do know that it was at least used by the time of Leo I. Here's a link: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07432a.htm Resolver-Aphelion (talk) 04:57, 14 April 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Origins? 

message: The article at current time states "holy water is water which has been sanctified by a priest or bishop for the purpose of baptism or for the blessing of persons, places, or things." but I cannot find anywhere of Catholic Doctrine which states it is used for places or things, only persons. How can one validate these claims and should it simply read "holy water is water which has been sanctified by a priest or bishop for the purpose of baptism or for the blessing of persons"?  I understand that people do use it in the manner of blessing objects, but my dad argues one must be a Catholic Priest to bless objects and that regular people cannot validly use holy water in this way as it's sole purpose is to bless people.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.112.196.141 (talk) 00:57, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Citation needed 

message: I have seen accounts of extraordinary measurements of bacteria in holy water. As it is entirely likely that a small pool of water touched by (sometimes dozens) many people it is believable to me that some urban pools of holy water contain abnormal amounts of harmful bacteria. Anyone else seen evidence of this?WhoIsJohnGalt? (talk) 05:59, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: No, but I've heard of studies done in Russia showing that blessing food before a meal reduces harmful bacteria. Wesley (talk) 06:04, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Please provide that reference!--98.70.62.167 (talk) 23:46, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

text: I added a Hygiene section to address this, and used the above sources.  Please feel free to add or reword as necessary.  Mrmekon (talk) 20:18, 15 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bacteria Content 

message: Surely if he blessed the entire water cycle it would get rid of all evil in the world as all living organisms need water to survive? Unless it's a giant load of make-believe that is...  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.253.17.194 (talk) 00:02, 9 August 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Don't ask stupid questions. Obviously even the Pope doesn't have enough mana to cast Bless on the whole volume of the ocean. Spacexplosion (talk) 02:17, 12 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Why doesn't the pope bless all the oceans and seas?

message: I'm not sure this section is correct, or at least comprehensive. Anglicanism is a very broad church and this section seems mostly about Anglo-Catholic practice. Many Anglican parishes would be quite hostile to the idea of holy water, which is seen as 'superstitious popery' and lumped together with incense, ornate statuary etc. All Anglicans carry out baptism, but there isn't much mention of 'holy' water in most churches. --80.176.142.11 (talk) 12:42, 20 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Use in Anglicanism 

message: Holy Water and Its Significance for Catholics by Henry Theiler 1906
isbn : 9780766175532 might be of some help.--Stone (talk) 22:09, 13 November 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Archive.org has the 1909 edition at http://www.archive.org/details/holywateranditss00theiuoft. jonathon (talk) 22:42, 14 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Reference 

message: There is a use of holy water in religions other than Christianity. I think this section needs to be added or expanded.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by NegiSpringfieldof4ch (talk • contribs) 02:29, 2 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Non-Christian Use section needed 

message: The Church of Unification is not a christian church as it refers to a new messiah, rearranges texts from the Bible, and considers Jesus the Christ, was not successful in completing its task, which is absolutely contradictory to the christian definition.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.243.175.194 (talk) 13:28, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Church of Unification is in the Christian part of the article 

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message: Based off beliefs people have said holy water i's made by boiling the hell out of ordinary water 2601:188:C600:D7D0:F8A1:EF3C:B95D:B873 (talk) 19:37, 23 November 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  How holy water i's made 

message: https://holywater-jo.com/ 59.16.7.124 (talk) 04:21, 10 March 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Holy Water from the Jordan River where Jesus Christ was Baptized