Traditional Holy Water

Today I was asked to bless water.  It takes a lot longer and is more work, but I now only do the traditional blessing of water.  Before I knew any better, I would just make the sign of the cross over the water and that was it.  Later on when I got “The Roman Ritual” I was shocked by the complete blessing of water including exorcisms and adding exorcised salt to the holy water.  Here is the Rite from “The Roman Ritual”:

“V. Our help is in the name of the Lord.

R. Who made heaven and earth.

Exorcism of Salt

O salt, creature of God, I exorcise you by the living God, by the true God, by the holy God, by the God who ordered you to be poured into the water by Eliseo the Prophet so that its life-giving powers might be restored. I exorcise you so that you may become a means of salvation for believers, that you may bring health of soul and body to all who make use of you, arid that you may put to flight and drive away from the places where you are sprinkled every apparition, villainy, and turn of devilish deceit, and every unclean spirit, adjured by Him Who will come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire. Amen.

Let us pray.Almighty and everlasting God, we humbly implore Thee, in Thy immeasurable kindness and love, to bless + and sanctify + this salt which Thou did create and give over to the use of mankind, so that it may become a source of health for the minds and bodies of all who make use of it, and may rid whatever it touches or sprinkles of all uncleanness and protect it from every assault of evil spirits. Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. R. Amen.

Exorcism of WaterO water, creature of God, I exorcise you in the name of God the Father almighty, and in the name of Jesus Christ His Son, our Lord, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. I exorcise you so that you may put to flight all the power of the Enemy, and be able to root out and supplant that Enemy with his apostate angels: through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who will come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire. Amen.

Let us pray.O God, Who for the salvation of mankind has built Thy greatest mysteries on this substance, water, in Thy kindness hear our prayers and pour down the power of Thy blessing + into this element, made ready for many kinds of purifications. May this, Thy creature, become an agent of divine grace in the service of Thy mysteries, to drive away evil spirits and dispel sickness, so that every-thing in the homes and other buildings of the faithful that is sprinkled with this water may be rid of all uncleanness and freed from every harm. Let no breath of infection, no disease-bearing air, remain in these places. May the wiles of the lurking Enemy prove of no avail. Let whatever might menace the safety and peace of those who live here be put to flight by the sprinkling of this water, so that the healthfulness, obtained by calling upon Thy holy name, may be made secure against all attack. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

R. Amen.

As a novus ordo priest, I really was never taught that there was a blessing for holy water other than in the mass and was in the sacramentary.  Now I know that there is a blessing in the novus ordo book of blessings.  I had a book of blessings but only rarely used it.  Here are the words for blessing holy water:

Blessed are you, Lord, Almighty God,
who deigned to bless us in Christ, the living water of our salvation,
and to reform us interiorly,
grant that we who are fortified
by the sprinking of or use of this water,
the youth of the spirit being renewed
by the power of the Holy Spirit,
may walk always in newness of life.

And then you make a sign of the cross over the water.

This is the blessing in the celebration of mass:

ORDER OF BLESSING

Introductory Rites

The celebrant begins with these words:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

All make the Sign of the Cross and reply:
Amen.

The celebrant greets those present, using the following or other suitable words, taken mainly from Sacred Scripture:
May God, who through water and the Holy Spirit has given us a new birth in Christ, be with you all.

All make the following or some other suitable reply:
And with your spirit.

As circumstances suggest, the celebrant may prepare those present for the blessing in the following or similar words:
The blessing of this water reminds us of Christ, the living water, and of the sacrament of Baptism, in which we were born of water and the Holy Spirit. Whenever, therefore, we are sprinkled with this holy water or use it in blessing ourselves upon entering the church or at home, we thank God for his priceless gift to us and we ask for his help to keep us faithful to the sacrament we have received in faith.

Reading of the Word of God

A reader, another person present or the celebrant reads a short text of sacred Scripture, such as the following:

Listen to the words of the Holy Gospel according to John: 7:37-39

Let anyone who is thirsty come to me.

On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and exclaimed, “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.'”

He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

The reader concludes:
The Gospel of the Lord.

All respond:
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Alternative Readings:

You will draw water joyfully from
the springs of salvation.  Isaiah 12:1-6

Oh, come to the water,
all you who are thirsty.  Isaiah 55:1-11

She will give him the water
of wisdom to drink.  Sirach 15:1-6

Jesus Christ came by water
and blood.  1 John 5:1-6

The Lamb will lead them to
the springs of living water.  Revelation 7:13-17

The river of life, rising from the
throne of God and of the Lamb.  Revelation 22:1-5

You, too, are clean.  John 13:3-15

Prayer of Blessing

After the reading, the celebrant says:
Let us pray.

All pray briefly in silence; then, with hands outstretched, the celebrant says the prayer of blessing:

Blessed are you, Lord, all-powerful God,
who in Christ, the living water of salvation,
blessed and transformed us.
Grant that when we are sprinkled with this water
or make use of it,
we will be refreshed inwardly by the power
of the Holy Spirit
and continue to walk in the new life
we received at Baptism.

We ask this though Christ our Lord.  
R. Amen.

 

I do not see any sign of the cross over the water in the rubrics, but it may be there.

So thank God we have the Roman Ritual to help us.  You do not need to exorcise the salt every time.  I exorcise the salt and keep it so when I do the traditional blessing, it does not take so long.  Exorcised salt is very powerful against the devil.  You can sprinkle around your house, yard, work, and neighborhood.  You can use it to cook with too.

Now many of you would like to have exorcized holy water and most parishes do not have it.  So my suggestion is to print up the traditional blessing of holy water and then take it to a priest with exorcised salt.  If you do not have exorcised salt, get that done one time and bring it with you when you go to get the traditional holy water blessing.

Always remember that priests are busy.  The more traditional and orthodox the priest is, the busier he will be.  So make it easy for him by planning ahead and bring all that is needed for him to bless your water in the old rite.

The evil devil is everywhere and he is so smart.  He is so happy that there is not exorcism of the holy water or the addition of exorcised salt.  He is freer to torment us and tempt us.  We need all the help we can get.

With more and more satanism and witchcraft, we need help badly.  Through God’s love, He has given us these protectors, these shields.  The devil worked in the church to get rid of these rites.  Thank God, they are starting to come back.  

Some simple things to use in protection against the devil are:  Holy water, the exorcised St. Benedict’s Medal, The scapular with the investiture, the miraculous medal and carrying the rosary.  

We are fortunate to be traditional catholics and have these weapons.  When you go into battle, can you imagine using a stick to fight against people with automatic weapons?  That would be so foolish.  Yet when we are in a constant spiritual battle, sometimes we go to battle with a toothpick.  

Always staying in the state of grace, helps so much to avoid the assaults of the devil.  Once in Italy a priest in mortal sin went with the exorcist.  The devil told him out loud in front of everyone all of his sins.  From then on he had great respect for the devil.  We should fear offending God more than fearing the devil.  Never forget that Mary is a great protector against the evil one and St. Michael.  St. Joseph is called “Terror of the devil”.