Holy water is a sacramental: a sacred sign instituted by the Church that prepares us to receive the fruit of the sacraments and sanctifies the circumstances of life. Its blessing belongs to the Church's public worship — the Rite of Blessing of Water outside Mass, and the rite of sprinkling that may replace the penitential act at Sunday Mass — while its use at the church door and in the home is a private devotion that flows from that liturgy. It forgives no sin of itself; it disposes us to repentance and recalls the grace of Baptism.

Take blessed water from the font on entering and leaving the church, and make the Sign of the Cross with it deliberately, recalling your Baptism. Keep a small font at home. Bless yourself and your children with it in the morning and at night; sprinkle the rooms of the house, the sick, and those setting out on a journey, saying: 'In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.' Water that has been blessed is not to be poured down a drain: return what is left to the earth.

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