BLESSING WATER

Sunday is the optimal time, liturgically, to bless water since holy water reminds us of our baptism, through which we were born again as adopted children of God through the suffering, death and resurrection of Our Lord.  This we celebrate every Sunday, which is liturgical Easter each and every week.

The Scripture lessons for this Sunday happened to be about baptism (Epistle) and the sacraments, especially the Eucharist (Gospel), so there was added relevance.

One of the prayers of the Rite of Blessing Water is so beautiful I wanted to put it on this blog :

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 everything 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.