Where Does Holy Water Come From?

Mystic Water · October 12, 2022

Water is intimately connected to Devine. For centuries humans have used water as a medium for human encounter with the divine. These waters are a getaway to God’s blessings. Bring the presence of our creator all around you through daily prayer and reuse it. This water is sacred and magical!! It is sourced from the most sacred holy places on earth, the Jordan River, Lourdes Shrine, Guadalupe, Vatican City, Mecca and many other places. We decided to source this water from all these sacred places to bring you the most sacred water on earth. No matter what religion you practice this water will bring the presence of God around you.

Jordan River
For centuries, baptisms have been performed in the Jordan River, considered holy by many religious communities. As the site of the baptism of Jesus Christ, the Jordan River is the source of all holy water in Christianity and has for centuries attracted pilgrims from across the world. This is where John the baptist did his sacred work.

Lourdes Shrine
Lourdes water is water which flows from a spring in the Grotto of Massabielle in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, France. The location of the spring was described to Bernadette Soubirous by an apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes on 25 February 1858. Since that time, many thousands of pilgrims to Lourdeshave followed the instruction of the Blessed Virgin Mary to "drink at the spring and bathe in it".

Zam Zam Water
Zamzam water is believed to be blessed holy water. The source of this water is the Zamzam well is situated within Masjid-al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The well is located 20 metres east of the Al-Kaaba, which is known as the holiest place in Islam. Zamzam Water has been scientifically proven to contain very high levels of Calcium and Magnesium, which can help decrease fatigue. This also provides the water with healing qualities thanks to high fluoride levels similar to conventional medicine properties.

Vatican City
This holy water is collected at the basilica of Vatican city. Blessed by the pope and filled with blessed water directly from St. Peter's square at Vatican City. This water has been blessed during public blessing in Saint Peter by Pope Francis.

Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe is the perfect vessel for holy water used for personal blessings throughout the day! Exported from Mexico City, where the most important shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe is located. The basílica of Our Lady of Guadalupe or Villa de Guadalupe receives 20 million tourists and pilgrims a year who visit the sacred place where a vision appeared to Juan Diego in 1531 in the hill of Tepeyac.

**swansont** · October 12, 2022

!

Moderator Note

This is a discussion site, not your blog. Soapboxing is not permitted.

What do you wish to discuss?

TheVat · October 12, 2022

I have questions.

If you use holy water and soap to wash your dishes, does that make the dishes holy? Or just cleaner?

How does holy and unholy balance? Is there a way to quantify them when, say, I eat pork (unholy to Jews and Muslims) off the plates washed with holy water? Could the holy and unholy cancel out in that situation?

If I drink holy water which then hydrates my stool, does that produce holy s--t? Or was drinking the water a bad action which taints my innards?

Also concerned about sources like the Jordan River - if someone dumps garbage or effluent in the river, does God get irate? Will he punish the person?

Were is the scientific proof you mention that Zamzam Water decreases fatigue? This needs a citation.

Peterkin · October 12, 2022

The act of selling water automatically desecrates it; it would make the user break out in hives. Sanctity is not a commercial commodity. Just as churches repurposed for secular functions must be deconsecrated, and documents must be declassified with stable genius mind-waves before they go on the auction block, so the Jordan water needs to be decontaminated and unblessed before it can be mail-ordered.

Quote

the Lower Jordan River consists primarily of untreated sewage and agricultural return flows, groundwater seepage, as well as brackish water from springs diverted into the river away from the Lake Tiberias area. http://waterinventory.org/surface_water/jordan-river-basin

exchemist · October 12, 2022

12 hours ago, Mystic Water said:

Water is intimately connected to Devine. For centuries humans have used water as a medium for human encounter with the divine. These waters are a getaway to God’s blessings. Bring the presence of our creator all around you through daily prayer and reuse it. This water is sacred and magical!! It is sourced from the most sacred holy places on earth, the Jordan River, Lourdes Shrine, Guadalupe, Vatican City, Mecca and many other places. We decided to source this water from all these sacred places to bring you the most sacred water on earth. No matter what religion you practice this water will bring the presence of God around you.

Jordan River
For centuries, baptisms have been performed in the Jordan River, considered holy by many religious communities. As the site of the baptism of Jesus Christ, the Jordan River is the source of all holy water in Christianity and has for centuries attracted pilgrims from across the world. This is where John the baptist did his sacred work.

Lourdes Shrine
Lourdes water is water which flows from a spring in the Grotto of Massabielle in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, France. The location of the spring was described to Bernadette Soubirous by an apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes on 25 February 1858. Since that time, many thousands of pilgrims to Lourdeshave followed the instruction of the Blessed Virgin Mary to "drink at the spring and bathe in it".

Zam Zam Water
Zamzam water is believed to be blessed holy water. The source of this water is the Zamzam well is situated within Masjid-al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The well is located 20 metres east of the Al-Kaaba, which is known as the holiest place in Islam. Zamzam Water has been scientifically proven to contain very high levels of Calcium and Magnesium, which can help decrease fatigue. This also provides the water with healing qualities thanks to high fluoride levels similar to conventional medicine properties.

Vatican City
This holy water is collected at the basilica of Vatican city. Blessed by the pope and filled with blessed water directly from St. Peter's square at Vatican City. This water has been blessed during public blessing in Saint Peter by Pope Francis.

Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe is the perfect vessel for holy water used for personal blessings throughout the day! Exported from Mexico City, where the most important shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe is located. The basílica of Our Lady of Guadalupe or Villa de Guadalupe receives 20 million tourists and pilgrims a year who visit the sacred place where a vision appeared to Juan Diego in 1531 in the hill of Tepeyac.

You mean "divine". "Devine" is a person's name.

Your post reads like a rather incompetent attempt at a marketing scam: incompetent because there is no link to whatever business is hoping to profit from selling the stuff, and a scam because it claims bogus special virtue in water from particular places. (The claim about the Jordan is entirely false).

At least as far as the references to Catholic locations are concerned, holy water in the Catholic church is simply water that has been ritually blessed by any priest, for use in various rituals in which water plays a symbolic role. It can be ordinary tap water, salt usually being added to suppress algal and bacterial growth. It is used in baptisms, in holy water stoups at the entrance to churches, in the "Asperges" at the start of traditional High Mass and so on. There is no need or expectation that it come from anywhere special.

**Phi for All** · October 12, 2022

14 hours ago, Mystic Water said:

We decided to source this water from all these sacred places to bring you the most sacred water on earth.

So it's allegedly a blend of all these waters you mention, to make it more sacred? Usually the vintage stuff is more expensive. Mystic Water sounds like the Ernest & Julio Gallo of the holy water world.

**swansont** · October 12, 2022

1 hour ago, Phi for All said:

So it's allegedly a blend of all these waters you mention, to make it more sacred? Usually the vintage stuff is more expensive. Mystic Water sounds like the Ernest & Julio Gallo of the holy water world.

Blended scotch instead of single-malt

**Phi for All** · October 12, 2022

29 minutes ago, swansont said:

Blended scotch instead of single-malt

Right? And it would be very weird if I had several bottles of the best single malts in the world, and offered to pour you a scotch blended from a bit of all of them, wouldn't it? Almost blasphemous, really.

Peterkin · October 12, 2022

47 minutes ago, Phi for All said:

Almost blasphemous, really.

Toss in some ice cubes and a green plastic swizzle-stick.

MigL · October 13, 2022

Ice cubes in scotch ?
That's worse than a blend.

**Phi for All** · October 13, 2022

42 minutes ago, Peterkin said:

Toss in some ice cubes and a green plastic swizzle-stick.

There's a special level of Hell where they serve drinks like that.

**swansont** · October 13, 2022

2 hours ago, Peterkin said:

Toss in some ice cubes and a green plastic swizzle-stick.

Tiny umbrella

Sensei · October 13, 2022

19 hours ago, Mystic Water said:

Water is intimately connected to Devine.

Not really. It is connected to giving/sustaining life. Just because if you don't drink, you die.

19 hours ago, Mystic Water said:

For centuries humans have used water as a medium for human encounter with the divine.

Nonsense.

In Christianity it is just a symbol of reborn after you wash you're clean i.e. flushed all previous "sins" (even if you did not have any like newborn)..

19 hours ago, Mystic Water said:

These waters are a getaway to God’s blessings.

Nonsense.

Primitive people have primitive superstitions.

19 hours ago, Mystic Water said:

Bring the presence of our creator all around you through daily prayer and reuse it.

Nonsense.

The creator of the Universe likes quantum physics, if you did not notice yet..

19 hours ago, Mystic Water said:

This water is sacred and magical!!

Nonsense.

It can be used to create fusion reactor, or nuclear weapon.. For primitive people, indeed, something "magical"..

19 hours ago, Mystic Water said:

It is sourced from the most sacred holy places on earth, the Jordan River, Lourdes Shrine, Guadalupe, Vatican City, Mecca and many other places.

Nonsense..

ps. BTW, you "forgot" to mention Ganges...

"The Ganges is the most sacred river to Hindus. It is worshipped as the goddess Ganga in Hinduism. The Ganges is threatened by severe pollution."

https://www.google.com/search?q=ganges+holy+river

dimreepr · October 13, 2022

11 hours ago, swansont said:

Tiny umbrella

The tiny umbrella was an immaculate design, of a localised solar still; and it's in no way poisonous to drink pure water. 🤔 🙄

Arete · October 13, 2022

Holey water comes out of holes. Duh.

zapatos · October 13, 2022

I make holy water at home. I simply put tap water in a pot, place it on the stove, then boil the hell out of it.

**Phi for All** · October 13, 2022

On 10/12/2022 at 12:22 AM, Mystic Water said:

No matter what religion you practice this water will bring the presence of God around you.

I see where you're coming from with this concept, like a bit of insurance to make sure you are covered no matter what turns out to be true, but I think you miss the point of the water itself by mixing it. These waters are supposed to represent a purification process for the believer. Mixing/blending them together makes them LESS pure, right? I think many Catholics and many Muslims might object to such a mix.

uncool · October 13, 2022

Funny enough, for Catholics it apparently doesn't necessarily have to be pure for the purposes of baptism.

https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/65635/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted

If the baptismal water has so diminished that it is foreseen it will not suffice, unblessed water may be added even repeatedly, but in lesser quantity than the blessed each time this is done.

Edited October 13, 2022 by uncool

joigus · October 13, 2022

As a person raised in the Catholic tradition, water was never very high on my agenda. The Church offers you as many servings of it as you want when you enter or leave their offices. What always kept me wondering was why wine was a privilege for the Father only, who did the consecration of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. You could have the (sorry excuse for) bread they give away, but never the wine.

I've been blood-thirsty ever since. Red wine is a miracle.

Peterkin · October 13, 2022

2 hours ago, joigus said:

What always kept me wondering was why wine was a privilege for the Father only, who did the consecration of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. You could have the (sorry excuse for) bread they give away, but never the wine.

I always wondered that, as well. Especially given that the Presbyterian church I went to with my other grandmother we sat around a long table and passed around shot-sized chalices of a robust red wine and chunks of bread, broken - never cut - off a fresh white loaf, rather that pathetic sliver of nothing.

I have since learned - on this very forum, aamof - that the serving of wine to communicants is matter of choice. Some priests share, some don't. I don't know at what level the policy decision is made.

3 hours ago, uncool said:

If the baptismal water has so diminished that it is foreseen it will not suffice, unblessed water may be added even repeatedly, but in lesser quantity than the blessed each time this is done.

So, that's where the woo-healers got the idea of water memory! It doesn't actually need a certain concentration of sanctity; some molecules of water remember having been blessed and they pass it on to any new water molecules. I bet it works better with blessing than medicinal ingredients.

joigus · October 14, 2022

1 hour ago, Peterkin said:

I always wondered that, as well. Especially given that the Presbyterian church I went to with my other grandmother we sat around a long table and passed around shot-sized chalices of a robust red wine and chunks of bread, broken - never cut - off a fresh white loaf, rather that pathetic sliver of nothing.

In early Christianity the sharing of the food was the real deal, more similar to what you tell me about the Presbyterian church.

From the point of view of healthy practices, holy water at the entrance of Catholic churches must bee teeming with bacteria. So ... eew. I don't think it's very sanitary.

Anyway, trying to answer to the question of where it comes from, I've found this,

Quote

It is believed that the use of holy water dates to the first century, and even some sources relate its early usage to St. Matthew, although written documentation about its usage dates to the third or fourth century. In the Catholic Tradition, holy water is used for the purpose of baptisms, blessing of persons, places and objects, or as protection against evil and danger.

From: https://www.stmarybasilicaarchives.org/archives-desk/history-and-usage-of-holy-water/

But given the role that water played in ancient Judaism, I think we shouldn't completely rule out the possibility that the origins of the practice go as far back as the Essenes, or perhaps earlier.

Peterkin · October 14, 2022

1 hour ago, joigus said:

Anyway, trying to answer to the question of where it comes from, I've found this,

1 hour ago, joigus said:

But given the role that water played in ancient Judaism, I think we shouldn't completely rule out the possibility that the origins of the practice go as far back as the Essenes, or perhaps earlier.

Oh sure, but that's what supports the rationale. The tradition of purification by water was very strongly reinforced in the baptism of Christ story. (You'd think, since was not begotten by the usual sin-precipitated method, he wouldn't need any cleansing, but he still had to wash off his mother's Eve-ness before he could fulfill the perfect martyrdom.) Anyway, when the Romans, who took over the Christian religion, they wanted to keep the symbolism and rituals in the scriptures. And since their European conquests had no analogous tradition, and they were certainly not about to demand that prospective converts get ducked in rivers (European ones, generally a lot colder than the Jordan and non-liquid for month at a time). So they did the next best thing: Here's some water. Let's pretend you're getting dunked in it by John the Baptists, just like Jesus was. You don't need a whole river of it, just a little dribble, because it's very special water that has God's stamp of approval; one of His anointed waved a cross over it and mumbled some words.