“Taking Holy Water When Entering the Church”
According to an honored practice that goes back centuries, all Christians who enter a church take holy water and sign themselves with the Sign of the Cross as a reminder of their baptism. They cross themselves and say: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” This is so similar to the formula in which they were baptized when the celebrant of baptism inserted the person’s name and said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” each time immersing or pouring water on the person being baptized.
Entering the church and blessing oneself with holy water reminds one of his or her baptism when they became an adopted son or daughter of God, when they were brought into the very life of the Blessed Trinity, when they had all of their sins forgiven, when they became a member of the Church, and when they became fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Eph. 2:19). Entering the church and taking holy water, recalling one’s baptism, also reminds one that they have drawn near to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to a multitude of angels in festal gathering, to the spirits of the just who have been made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant (see Heb. 12:22-24).
Source: Rev. Kurt Belsole, OSB, Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, PA
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