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To: Alamo-Girl
Why Do Catholics Do That? Bless Themselves with Holy Water
2,188 posted on 03/27/2007 8:17:15 AM PDT by Salvation (" With God all things are possible. ")
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To: Salvation
Thanks for the link!
2,189 posted on 03/27/2007 8:44:40 AM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: Salvation; Alamo-Girl
Your link admits that the use of Holy Water is of pagan origin using "symbolical practices which express the religious instinct that is common to all races and times. . . . Holy water, as our catechisms taught us, is "water blessed by the priest with solemn prayer, to beg God's blessing on those who use it, and protection from the powers of darkness. . . .

"Water is the natural element for cleansing, and hence its use was common in almost every ancient faith, to denote interior purification. Among the Greeks and Romans the sprinkling of water, or "lustration," was an important feature of religious ceremonies. Cities were purified by its use, in solemn processions. Fields were prepared for planting by being blessed with water. Armies setting out for war were put under the protection of the gods by being sprinkled in a similar manner. Among the Egyptians the use of holy water was even more common, the priests being required to bathe in it twice every day and twice every night, that they might thereby be sanctified for their religious duties. The Brahmins and others of the far Orient, and even the Indians of our own continent, have always attached great importance to ceremonial purification by means of water."

The belief in Holy Water is not of Jewish nor Christian origin --- and your link admits it. It's pagan.

2,193 posted on 03/27/2007 11:40:44 AM PDT by Uncle Chip (TRUTH : Ignore it. Deride it. Allegorize it. Interpret it. But you can't ESCAPE it.)
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