Question
I have been to many churches around the country during Lent. I have noticed that many do not have holy water in their churches during this time. I have looked and wondered where is this practice found in the liturgical documents?
--Wondering in Waterville
Answer
There is no liturgical rubric which states that holy water is removed during Lent. It has been a custom since the Second Vatican Council, especially and the renewal of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults to have churches focus on the "life giving waters of baptism" and the renewal of the community's baptismal promises. The feeling among church liturgy committees is that if you take away a symbol, you will think about it, what it means, hunger for it and focus on its importance.
There is one reference to using holy water in the liturgical rubrics of the church and it is found in the Ceremonial of Bishops, 110. This states that one should use holy water to bless oneself as they enter church. There is no reference to using holy water on the way OUT of church because the custom of using the holy water developed from members washing themselves before participating in a meal. There are no references to holy water in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal.
Additionally, there is a reference that:
The practice of the Church has been to empty the Holy Water fonts on the days of the Sacred Triduum in preparation of the blessing of the water at the Easter Vigil, and it corresponds to those days on which the Eucharist is not celebrated (i.e. Good Friday and Holy Saturday).
What some parishes have done is have parishioner bring their containers filled with water and have the priest bless the water privately, though any one may bless holy water from the Book of Blessings ritual.
Recently Zenit.org published the following because of many queries:
Question: Is it proper to have holy water receptacles empty from Ash Wednesday on, through all of Lent?
Answer: The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments recently responded to a similar question (3/14/03: Prot. N. 569/00/L) giving a clear answer: "This Dicastery is able to respond that the removing of Holy Water from the fonts during the season of Lent is not permitted, in particular, for two reasons:
1. The liturgical legislation in force does not foresee this innovation, which in addition to being 'praeter legem' is contrary to a balanced understanding of the season of Lent, which though truly being a season of penance, is also a season rich in the symbolism of water and baptism, constantly evoked in liturgical texts.
2. The encouragement of the Church that the faithful avail themselves frequently of the sacraments is to be understood to apply also to the season of Lent. The 'fast' and 'abstinence' which the faithful embrace in this season does not extend to abstaining from the sacraments or sacramentals of the Church.
The practice of the Church has been to empty the Holy Water fonts on the days of the Sacred Triduum in preparation of the blessing of the water at the Easter Vigil, and it corresponds to those days on which the Eucharist is not
celebrated (i.e., Good Friday and Holy Saturday)."