Holy water - healing and beneficial properties: scientific explanation of the power of holy water
Holy water has great spiritual significance for every person. It is the “holy” water that becomes holy on the eve of the Epiphany holiday.
Every year, from January 18 to 19, people go to the temple to bless the water. All Orthodox believers know and believe that water becomes healing and can protect from troubles and diseases.
However, there are also disagreements. Someone argues that water should be collected only in the church, after it has been consecrated by the temple minister. Others are sure that on such a holiday any water, even tap water, acquires healing properties.
The Gospel says that on the night of January 18-19, Jesus Christ entered the Jordan River and received Baptism. According to this, during the Epiphany holiday, the water in all sources becomes holy.
Healing water for Epiphany
For many years, scientists have conducted research on water on this day. Experts have proven that Epiphany water acquires healing properties. This applies not only to water consecrated in the temple, but also to water from all sources.
Studies have shown that the properties of water change in all sources on the planet during the Epiphany holidays. It depends on the external influences our planet is exposed to during this period.
Such changes occur approximately from the evening of the 18th to the afternoon of January 19th. In addition to all this, church rituals and prayers also affect water, making it healing.
Answer to a burning question
Why doesn't holy water spoil? Water is the strongest conductor of energy, the molecules of which absorb and store information. An experiment was carried out with several vessels. Each one had inscriptions: God, Love, Mother Teresa, Hitler, chaos...
When they began to examine water under a microscope, the liquid with positive inscriptions had crystals of the correct shape in the form of snowflakes, and with negative inscriptions - pictures without any shape.
What does Epiphany water do? It carries information of harmony and life. Scientists have proven that a few drops of water can spread positive information to 60 liters of liquid. Epiphany water contains information about its holiness, healing properties, and durability, so it stays fresh for a long time and is endowed with enormous healing power.
Consumption and use of holy water
- There is a pious custom to drink holy water on an empty stomach, but this is not at all a prerequisite.
- However, in the statutes and regulations of churches it is written that it is still not good to eat food before drinking holy water.
- They also anoint sore spots with holy water while saying a prayer.
- You should not make compresses or take a bath with holy water, this is unnecessary. After all, it doesn’t matter at all how much water you use, what matters is the contact itself and your state of mind. By receiving the grace that holy water is saturated with, you receive healing.
- Storing holy water should be proper and careful. It is best to place a container with holy water near the icon . Let this container be labeled so that none of the relatives can confuse and accidentally pour out or use the water for other purposes.
- There is no need to put water in the refrigerator and store it with food.
- Animals are not allowed to drink holy water.
- Holy water can be sprinkled on a house or other room, item or pets, while saying a certain prayer.
- If holy water has spoiled , it is not allowed to pour it into the sewer or onto the road where people and animals walk. This water can be poured into a flower pot, or under a tree or into a pond.
- It is not the mere presence of holy water in the house that is important, but its regular use. The healing properties will not be lost, but in this way people excommunicate themselves from the shrine.
Treat holy water with care and respect
- There is no need to store water “in reserve”; it is important to use it regularly and turn to it as a source of spiritual strength and health.
- If you have little holy water left at home, and for some occasion you need more of it, you can add holy water to plain, unblessed water. Thus, all water will become healing and sacred.
- It is allowed to drink and wash an unbaptized baby with holy water.
- While still pregnant, a woman can start drinking holy water and read prayers for the health of her baby.
- It is not allowed to wash the floor or water flowers with holy water; such treatment may be considered blasphemy and disrespectful treatment of the source of God's grace.
What to do with unused
Where is holy water poured? Sometimes it happens that consecrated water has spoiled, and a person is afraid to drink it internally. Then the remaining water is poured into a place far from sewage. You can’t pour it onto a path where people or animals walk, or into a sewer! This is extreme disrespect for the shrine. An acceptable place for draining unsuitable moisture is a river with a current, an open reservoir, a tree at a temple, or indoor plants.
The blessing of water is a great sacrament. It makes it possible to return to pristine purity and get closer to the Lord. Using holy water a person heals his soul and body.
What to do with old holy water?
Addressing the shrine and drinking holy water by women during monthly cleansing
There are many disputes and statements regarding the behavior of a woman on the days of monthly purification in relation to the church. In some of them, women who attend church, take communion, touch the Bible, or while on their period are condemned.
Visiting a temple during monthly purification
But if you look at this situation more deeply, then there is no such prohibition in God’s instructions. If a woman herself, out of respect for the Creator, refrains from visiting the Temple on “unclean” days, then this is worthy of respect. But if, nevertheless, a woman expressed the will to attend communion or drink holy water, then no one can condemn her.
What should I do if I used it in an unworthy manner?
Inappropriate, disrespectful, unworthy attitude, of course, burdens the soul and conscience of a true Christian. Therefore, it requires repentance at the next confession.
Many priests believe that this is a sin against God’s gift, and accordingly, against God, and it should be mentioned at the beginning of confession, among the most serious sins.
Those who doubt whether they should repent of their unworthy attitude towards the shrine and do not know how best to structure their confession are advised to first talk with a clergyman. Or you can read the works of church leaders - they also give advice on this matter.
Cooking with holy water
Many people wonder whether it is possible to cook food with holy water or make tea or coffee. In such a question you just need to feel the line.
Why do we need this? To receive more grace? Drinking holy water itself does more than just quench thirst.
This is spiritual saturation, healing. If food was cooked in holy water, then at the end of the meal, the leftover food cannot be thrown away or fed to domestic animals.
Epiphany water in questions and answers
January 20, 2021
What is holy water? Is it true that on January 19th the Lord sanctifies all the water on earth? Is it true that swimming in an ice hole at Epiphany cleanses all sins? Priest Dmitry Levchuk, cleric of the Soligorsk parish of the Church of the Great Martyr Barbara, answers these and other questions.
What is holy water?
Holy water in Christianity is the name given to water consecrated in a church during the rite of blessing of water. Blessing of water, or blessing of water, can be small, performed at any time at the water-blessing prayer service, and great, performed twice a year - on the day of Epiphany itself (January 19, new style), and also the day before, on the eve of Epiphany (Epiphany Eve).
What is water blessing?
According to the teachings of the Church, water blessing is performed to impart God’s sanctification and blessing to the water—the grace of the Holy Spirit. Initially, holy water was used in the Sacrament of Baptism, where it is an external sign of invisible grace transmitted to the baptized.
Main meaning
The use of blessed water in Christianity dates back to the 2nd century. The tradition of its use is connected both with the biblical story of the Baptism of Christ in the waters of the Jordan River, and with the Old Testament liturgical traditions (Num. 5:17).
“The beginning of the world is water, and the beginning of the Gospel is Jordan. A sensual light shone from the water, for the Spirit of God rushed over the top of the water and commanded the light to shine out of the darkness. From the Jordan the light of the Holy Gospel shone, for, as the holy evangelist writes, “from that time,” that is, from the time of Baptism, Jesus began to preach and say: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17),” says Saint Cyril of Jerusalem.
Use of holy water
Christians believe that Epiphany water brings spiritual and physical health. Every year on Epiphany Eve, long lines of believers line up outside churches to stock up on Epiphany water for the whole year. The main point is not to take water these days, but to pray during its consecration, to attend the prayer service, because the Lord gives grace for healing ailments with holy water precisely through prayer.
In the Orthodox Church, holy water has the widest use as a source of God's grace in the mysterious sanctification of everyone and everything. Through Baptism in water, people are freed from original sin and united with Christ, becoming a new creation. A person dies - his remains and his final abode, the coffin, are sprinkled with holy water as a farewell to eternity, as is his resting place - the cemetery. When someone goes on a journey, he is blessed by sprinkling with holy water. Before teaching begins, children are sprinkled with holy water. Both the foundation of the house and the person’s dwelling itself are certainly sanctified with holy water. In the Church, everything that has sacred use is necessarily sanctified through sprinkling with holy water, just like the temple itself at the foundation, at the completion of construction, and constantly on special days and holidays of the year.
Thus, in the church, everything belonging to the altar and the altar servers is blessed with holy water - the throne, the altar, the antimension, service vessels, crosses, Gospels, altar clothes, clergy vestments, etc. All sacred objects are also blessed - icons, crosses, banners, reliquaries, bells, etc.
Holy water, according to the teachings of the Church, has the ability to heal the sick. For example, St. Seraphim Vyritsky advised patients who came to him to take a tablespoon of consecrated water every hour.
How to use holy water?
It is customary to use holy water with the prayer: “Lord my God, may Your holy gift and Your holy water be for the remission of my sins, for the enlightenment of my mind, for the strengthening of my mental and physical strength, for the health of my soul and body, for the subjugation of passions and my infirmities according to Thy boundless mercy through the prayers of Thy Most Pure Mother and all Thy saints. Amen".
Is it possible to drink holy water on an empty stomach?
According to tradition, holy water is taken on an empty stomach in the morning, which is understandable: first of all, a person eats the holy thing, and then proceeds to ordinary food. As for the remaining 24 hours, the Typikon says that it is unwise to abstain from holy water because of eating food:
“Let it be known to everyone about holy water: those who separate themselves from holy water for the reason that they have already tasted food are not doing good, for the grace of God is given for the sanctification of the world and all creation. We also sprinkle it everywhere, in all unclean places, and even under our feet. And where is the intelligence of those who do not drink it because they eat food?
That is, the Church does not prohibit drinking holy, even baptismal water at any time and reproaches those who believe that drinking holy water on an empty stomach is prohibited.
Is the water consecrated on the day of Epiphany and on Epiphany Eve different in its properties?
There is absolutely no difference! Let's go back to the time of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow - he specifically asked the Patriarch of Antioch whether it was necessary to consecrate the water on the very day of the Epiphany: after all, the day before, on Christmas Eve, the water had already been consecrated. And I received the answer that there would be no sin in that, it could be done again so that everyone could take water. And today they come for one kind of water, and the next day for another - they say, the water is stronger here. Why is she stronger? So we see that people do not even listen to the prayers that are read at the consecration. And they don’t know that the water is blessed by the same rite, the same prayers are read.
Holy water is absolutely the same on both days - both on the day of Epiphany and on Epiphany Eve.
Is it true that on January 19th the Lord sanctifies all the water on earth?
This is a prejudice. The lot of non-church media and various “gossips”. It goes back to that type of religiosity that implies something magically obtained: indeed, why go to church for a service, what if you have to stand in line for holy water? Why should God pray? Why try to understand what the meaning of the Epiphany holiday is, why give yourself the trouble to think about the meaning of consecrating holy water, when you can simply turn on the tap in the bathroom, and draw a bucket of water, and consider that it is holy?
The Church does not establish any restrictions on the use of tap water on Epiphany (Epiphany). But the Epiphany water brought from the church, consecrated at the rite of great consecration, should, of course, not be used for washing and washing, and not for taking baths in it.
Is it true that swimming in an ice hole at Epiphany cleanses all sins?
This is wrong!
“Handbook for a Clergyman,” 1913: “...In some places there is a custom of swimming in rivers on this day (especially those who dressed up, told fortunes, etc., bathed during Christmas time, superstitiously attributing to this bath a cleansing power from these sins). Such a custom cannot be justified by the desire to imitate the example of the Savior’s immersion in water, as well as the example of Palestinian pilgrims who bathe in the Jordan River at all times. In the east it is safe for pilgrims, because there is no such cold and such frosts as ours. The belief in the healing and cleansing power of the water consecrated by the Church on the very day of the Savior’s baptism cannot speak in favor of such a custom, because swimming in winter means demanding a miracle from God or completely neglecting one’s life and health.”
At Epiphany, after the service, clergy often bless nearby sources - lakes, rivers, ponds. There is also a pious custom of plunging into the Jordan - a reservoir on which the rite of consecration has been performed, or an ice hole. The main thing here is not to treat swimming as a “church-sports feat”: someone, having reverently crossed himself, although afraid of the frost, goes down into the water, embarrassing himself for the sake of Christ; someone, laughing and swaggering, jumps into the ice hole, and it’s good if he doesn’t swear with delight... It’s unlikely that these pictures require comment, like the habit of some people after ablution to warm themselves not only with prayer, but also not with a towel, but with alcohol.
If an Orthodox person intends to follow the custom of plunging into the Jordan, it would not be superfluous to take a blessing from the priest for this. But immersion in an ice hole in no way replaces confession. Forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God and His Church is possible only in the sacrament of repentance, during confession in church.
Does it happen that holy water “doesn’t help”?
Saint Theophan the Recluse writes: “All grace coming from God through the Holy Cross, holy icons, holy water, relics, consecrated bread (artos, antidor, prosphora), etc., including the Most Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, has power only for those who are worthy of this grace through prayers of repentance, repentance, humility, service to people, works of mercy and the manifestation of other Christian virtues. But if they are not there, then this grace will not save, it does not act automatically, like a talisman, and is useless for the wicked and imaginary Christians (without virtues).”
Miracles of healing still occur today, and they are countless. But only those who accept it with living faith in the promises of God and the power of prayer of the Holy Church, those who have a pure and sincere desire to change their lives, are rewarded with the miraculous effects of holy water. God does not create miracles where people want to see them only out of curiosity. “An evil and adulterous generation,” the Savior said about his unbelieving contemporaries, “seeks a sign; and no sign will be given to him” (Matthew 12:39).
Is water really baptismal all week long?
Epiphany water is such from the moment of its consecration and for a year, two or more, until its reserves at home run out. Taken from the temple on any day, it never loses its holiness.
Can holy water go bad?
Water must be collected in clean containers in which the water should not spoil. There is no need to collect holy water in bottles if they are not very clean or if something was previously stored in them (especially beer or other alcohol).
Saint John Chrysostom wrote that holy water has the property of maintaining freshness for a long time. With reverent attitude, holy water remains fresh and pleasant to the taste for a long time. There are examples when holy water was stored for more than thirty years.
Due to various circumstances, although very rarely, it happens that water comes into a state that does not allow internal use. If holy water “blooms,” according to church canons, it must be poured into an untrodden place (in a flowing river or in the forest under a tree). The container in which it was stored should no longer be used for domestic use.
Is it possible for unbaptized people to drink holy water?
On the one hand, it is possible, because what harm can there be to a person from drinking holy water, or anointing himself with oil, or eating prosphora? But you just need to think about how this could be useful for him. If this is a certain approach of a person to the church fence, then this is good and pedagogically it will lead him to what is more essential in our faith - to the worship of God in spirit and truth. And if such actions are perceived as a kind of magic, as a kind of “church medicine,” but at the same time a person does not at all strive to join the church in order to become an Orthodox Christian, then there is no need to provoke this kind of consciousness.
of housing with holy water
There is the power of the cross as something that protects from evil. We can sanctify something in the sense of “filling with grace,” but we sprinkle something (say, a toilet) with baptismal holy water so that no evil is hidden there, and not for the consumption of holy things there. “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, by sprinkling this sacred water, let all evil, demonic activities be put to flight. Amen!" As the Typikon says, on this day they sprinkle Epiphany water throughout the house “even under our feet” - where we walk, so don’t be embarrassed when water ends up on the floor.
Where to store holy water?
It should be stored in a separate place, preferably next to the home iconostasis. Holy water is stored in a special vessel (you can paste an appropriate inscription) so that households do not accidentally use this shrine for other purposes.
Is it possible to give holy water to friends and relatives if they were unable to go get it?
It is possible, but let us remember that the great consecration takes place on two consecutive days (January 18 and 19).
Is it possible to give holy water to animals?
Holy water is intended for those who drink it with faith in Christ. From prayers for the consecration of water: “... make it [the water], by the power, action and grace of the Most Holy Spirit, appear to all who drink it with faith, accept it, and sprinkle Your servants with it, forgiveness, liberation from passions, deliverance from all evil, multiplication virtues, healing of diseases...". In former times, it was customary to sprinkle cattle against pestilence during epidemics.
Holy water against drunkenness
From the book of priest Konstantin Parkhomenko: “I remembered a funny story about one of my parishioners - a former drunkard. I meet him at the temple with a bunch of plastic water bottles. Smiles: “Father, I haven’t drunk for six months.” Me: “And how do you manage to do this?” - “I am following your advice, father. You told me that if you don’t have the strength to drink, you need to pray and drink holy water. That's what I do. If you want vodka, I’ll have a glass of holy water. If you want more, I'll have a glass or two again. So I drink about nine glasses and I lose all desire to drink vodka.” Throughout the day, if you want to drink alcohol, the sufferer is recommended to drink holy water with prayer.
Destroying myths!
The claims that holy water acquires its properties thanks to silver ions from a silver cross, which the priest immerses in water during the rite of blessing the water, seem naive. There is even this anecdote about this: “How many silver ions are contained in a liter of consecrated Epiphany water, if the consecration was carried out in an ice hole cut in the ice of the Volga (as was usually the case before the revolution and is practiced today), in a place where the width of the river reaches a kilometer, the depth is ten meters, the speed of the current is 5 km/hour, and the cross with which the village priest blessed the water is wooden?”
The consecration of water in the Sacrament of Baptism is generally performed simply by the hand of the priest. And yet, this water has all the properties that holy water should have.
Popular beliefs
- it is believed that if a young girl or woman washes herself with the snow that fell on Epiphany, then throughout the year she will attract the attention of the opposite sex;
- snow collected on the night before Epiphany has healing properties;
- It was believed that Christmas Eve is the time of greatest activity of evil spirits. To protect their home, lit church candles were placed in the corners of the house, and a crucifix was placed on the door;
- Epiphany dreams were considered prophetic;
- a young couple who made matchmaking on Epiphany was sure to live an easy, calm, long and happy life.
