Holy water font

A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or other Christian art. It is used in Catholic, as well as many Lutheran and Anglican churches, to make the sign of the cross using the holy water upon entrance of the church.^[1] Holy water is blessed by a priest or a deacon, and its usage by Christians serves as a reminder of their baptismal vows.^[2] The holy water font is a derivative of the cantharus, which has been used by Christians since the time of the early Church to perform ablutions before entering the church (while these are no longer normative in Western Christianity, canthari are found at the entrance of certain Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox churches).^[3][4]

Holy water font at the entrance of the Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston, Texas

Gallery

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  Holy water font in Santa Maria Maddalena, Rome, Italy
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  A carved stoup at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Pondicherry, India
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  Carved stoup at the entrance of the Church of St Mary and St David, Kilpeck, England

See also

•  Christianity portal
•  Catholicism portal

• Baptismal font
• Nipson anomemata me monan opsin
• Home stoup, for usage and blessing at home

References

1. Bertacchini, E. (1 January 2014). A New Perspective on the Production and Evolution of Cultures. Content Publishers. p. 183. ISBN 9781490272306. A holy water font is a vessel containing holy water generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is used in Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches, as well as some Anglican churches to make the sign of the cross using the holy water upon entrance and exit.
2. Gould, Meredith (1 September 2009). Why is There a Menorah on the Altar?: Jewish Roots of Christian Worship. Church Publishing, Inc. p. 71. ISBN 9781596272194. Many Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican/Episcopal churches customarily sprinkle the assembly with water each Sunday during Easter. In liturgical churches, funeral services are begun by sprinkling water over the coffin. Getting sprinkled with holy water during liturgy is supposed to remind you of baptism.
3. Myers, Bernard S. (1959). Encyclopedia of World Art. McGraw-Hill. p. 295. ISBN 978-0-07-019466-3. The holy-water font (stoup), a basin on a stand for the holy water, is set near the entrance of a church. The font derives from the cantharus (basin) that stood in the atrium of Early Christian basilicas and was used for the purification of the faithful.
4. Ian Bradley (2 November 2012). Water: A Spiritual History. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4411-6767-5. It was probably out of the Jewish rite that the practice developed among early Christians, especially in the east, of washing their hands and feet before going into church. Early Christian basilicas had a fountain for ablutions, known as cantharus or phiala, and usually placed in the centre of the atrium. They are still found in some Eastern Orthodox churches, notably at the monastery of Laura at Mount Athos, where the phiala is an imposing structure in front of the entrance covered by a dome resting on eight pillars. In several Orthodox churches today worshippers take off their shoes and wash their feet before entering the church just as Muslims do before going into a mosque.

External links

• "Holy Water Fonts" Catholic Encyclopedia article
• Using Holy Water in Daily Devotions by The Rev. Brandon L. Filbert (The Protestant Episcopal Church)

 

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