Blessing & Consecration

I always used to think that Holy Water was just vaguely "blessed" by the priest, in much the same way that you sometimes get a sign of the cross "waved" in the general direction of a rosary presented for blessing. And so I didn't quite understand the distinction between Holy Water found in water stoups in the church and holy water obtained from a place like Lourdes.

I was delighted to discover that actually there is a whole lot more to Holy Water... there's the salt for a start. And the salt has to be exorcised through prayer. I think the water has to be exorcised too... and then the two are brought together, and more prayers are said. Candles feature too. Next time I spot that some more Holy Water is being prepared, I shall try to get photos...

I see that Fr. Z has a post on the consecration of the sacred vessels for their use at Mass, and also how the Sacred Species (and anything which comes into contact with them) must be disposed of. He describes an amusing hypothetical scenario involving a mouse which dared to run off with a consecrated Host, and the disposal of the cat sent in pursuit of the mouse... Yes, it was only hypothetical!

The rest of the post is very good, and well worth a read if you are interested in how things ought to be done for the Liturgy.