Holy Water

Holy water is available to all St. Jude parishioners. There is a font (pictured to the right) next to the vesting room in the narthex. Bring your own suitable container and take some Holy water home with you after Mass. Use it to bless your home, your family members and yourself. Get your own small font and place it by the door, so you can bless yourself as you leave or return home.

Holy water is a sacramental. It is water blessed by a priest to impart God’s blessing on those who use it. There are varying kinds of this blessed water, the principal ones of which are ordinary, used in common sprinkling and in the wall fonts of churches and homes; baptismal water, which contains oil of catechumens and chrism oil and is used only in the sacrament of baptism; and consecration water, sometimes referred to as “Gregorian water,” with ashes, salt, and wine, used in the consecration of churches.

The sacramental of holy water is used in baptism, in exorcisms, in the intermingling with palm ashes, at certain Masses throughout the liturgical year, at each Compline prayer in certain liturgical rites, and in funerals. It is also sprinkled on the sick. From this list, which omits several other common uses of holy water (it is used to bless just about anything), we can see that this sacramental is an integral part of Catholic life. (Source: Catholic Answers)