Sacramentals and Holy Water (the Church Nerd 1)

Peter Sellers in Heavens Above! (1963)

 

The Church Nerd (1)

Sacramentals and Holy Water

--Fr. Tony Hutchinson 

Trinitarian, April 2017 

Most of us know about the sacraments, those “outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace” (BCP, p. 857).  The “two great sacraments given by Christ … are Holy Baptism and the Holy Eucharist” (BCP, p. 858).  In addition, there are the five “sacramental rites evolved in the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit”:  confirmation, ordination, holy matrimony, reconciliation of a penitent (private confession), and unction (anointing for the ill or dying) (BCP, p. 860).    Churches of the Anglican Communion like the Episcopal Church also recognize several devotional practices that help prepare us for receiving God’s grace in the sacraments and rites.  Many of these involve what are called “sacramentals” or objects blessed and seen as holy because of their role in our devotions. The biblical warrant for sacramental is found in the story of the man born blind (John 11), where Jesus makes mud and uses it to heal.   

One such sacramental is holy oil, both that used in baptism or confirmation and that used in anointing the sick or dying, blessed by a bishop.  Another is found in the palms used on Passion Sunday.  Another is the Paschal Candle for Easter, baptisms, and funerals.  The water used in baptism is also a sacramental, blessed before use by prayers and touching by the priest and, often, the Paschal Candle (BCP, p. 306). 

At Trinity we keep water in the baptismal font at the entrance to the Church for use by the people in blessing.   To “bless’ an object means to give God thanks for it, through prayer to offer it for special use as ordained by God, and call upon God to look after it. 

I use a very traditional form of blessing of the water at the entrance of our Church:  Using very ancient prayers, I consecrate salt as a purifying and preserving agent, then sprinkle the salt in the water, and say another ancient prayer setting the water apart to be a means of driving from God’s people their sins, fears, and demons.   Water thus blessed is called “holy water” and is for the devotional use of all of God’s people.  Many people dip their fingers in it when they enter or leave church, making the sign of the cross as a prayer for closer life with God.   I use holy water to asperge, or sprinkle, the people on occasions when special prayers for our well being seem appropriate.   I also use it in blessings and consecrations of objects to be set aside for holy work, like candlesticks and altar cloths.  

We Anglicans/Episcopalians share this practice of using holy water in blessing and prayer in common with the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholics, the (Assyrian) Church of the East, Armenians, Coptic Christians, and a few Lutherans and Methodists.     It is not a superstition.  It is not the practice of magic.  It is a devotional practice, where our actions express our prayers, and where objects in God’s beautiful created world take on special meaning in helping us focus our prayers and thanks.