The Marian Garden: Ancient and New

An ornamental woodcut headpiece features scrolling acanthus leaves and floral designs. At the center is a circular medallion with a sunburst containing the letters "MAR" an abbreviation for Mary.

Blessed water, or lustral water.

§. I.

1.

All creatures were created by God, in themselves beautiful and good. Genesis 1: "And God saw everything that He had made, and it was very good," says the Scripture. But beyond their natural perfection and goodness, they can also become better in another respect, which Saint Paul demonstrates to us precisely when he says: "Every creature is sanctified by the word and prayer." 1 Timothy 4 Hence, the Holy Fathers, enlightened by God, ordained exorcisms and certain prayers for this purpose, by which, if certain things are blessed, they might attain a certain other effect beyond their natural virtue, not only for the health of the soul but also of the body. Among these, the element of water was chosen by the Apostles, as Pope Alexander I hints, as it is the most common and universal thing to be blessed and sanctified for our bodily as well as spiritual utility, and principally at the entrance of churches, so that the faithful Christian, cleansed and purified by this element, might appear more beautiful before the Divine Majesty, and his prayers might be more easily heard.