But it is true of the early Church.
Oh really?? Here is what the link at #2188 says. Note the qualifying words in bold[mine]. I just love the game these apologists play. They make a statement and then take it away. It's called a qualified lie:
"The use of holy water in Catholic Churches goes back possibly to Apostolic times. There is a tradition that St. Matthew recommended it in order thereby to attract converts from Judaism by using a rite with which they were familiar in their former faith. However, we have no certainty that he introduced it, but we know that it can be traced back nearly to the beginning of our religion. It is mentioned in a letter ascribed by some to Pope Alexander I, and supposed to have been written in the year 117; but the genuineness of this letter is very doubtful.... We find a detailed account of its use, however, in the "Pontifical of Serapion," in the fourth century, and the formula of blessing mentioned therein has considerable resemblance to that used at the present day.... "The Asperges. The blessing of water [at] Mass on Sunday and the sprinkling of the congregation with it, which ceremony is called the "Asperges," goes back to the time of Pope Leo IV, in the ninth century, and possibly even further. "
So there is no evidence that it was used until the 4th century at the earliest and possibly not until the 9th century. So when you say "the early church", you must mean the early Roman Catholic Church which was founded in the 4th century and took shape over the next few centuries.