# How much can holy water be diluted? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 13, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601 "2009-10-13T00:07:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/41 "2009-10-13T14:20:00Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > Growing up Catholic and serving as an altar boy, I’ve never seen Holy Water disposed of; it was either consumed by the priest, or simply evaporated. Fellow altar boy chiming in here. I’ve never seen this. Are you talking about the water mixed with the wine during the Mass? That’s not the same thing as the holy water to which the OP refers. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/42 "2009-10-13T16:19:04Z")
> [@rhysf](#): > > 1. Is there a limit to the volume of water that can be blessed, for example, an entire body of water such as a lake or ocean? > > In particular, are there official guidelines from the Roman Catholic church or other christian denominations, or as an aside, in vampire folklore? I believe a Pope once blessed the Tiber River due to the large number of plague victims being dumped into it. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/43 "2009-10-13T16:59:58Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Fellow altar boy chiming in here. I’ve never seen this. Are you talking about the water mixed with the wine during the Mass? That’s not the same thing as the holy water to which the OP refers. Yeah, I was an altar boy too, and I’ve never seen that either. I have poured holy water down the sacrarium, usually after a mass where the congregation was blessed with an aspergillum. It was too much hassle to transfer the leftover holy water back to whatever vessel we got it from in the first place. I have seen priests just eat a bunch of leftover hosts, usually when a mass was held in a different location and there were only a few left. They didn’t want to deal with the issues involved in transferring the consecrated hosts back to the church. ---
**Author:** ![mbetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/53a042/32.png) [@mbetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbetter)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/44 "2009-10-13T17:18:27Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I use holy water diluted 10 trillion to 1 to ward off succussubusses. I used mine to bless my BoH. ---
**Author:** ![Donovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@Donovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donovan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/45 "2009-10-13T17:53:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > …Eucharist is a Big Deal in the Catholic church, which considers it the literal Body and Blood of Christ. And it would be hugely disrespectful to dump bits of Jesus in with sewage, so something else has to be done with it, hence the sacrarium. If holy water is disposed of in a sacrarium, that’s either to wash down the remnants of the Eucharist, or just because it’s there anyway and is a handy place to pour it, but holy water disposal is not the reason a church has a sacrarium in the first place. Unless I am misunderstanding you here, you are either not talking about Roman Catholicism or you are mistaken - the Eucharist is NOT dumped into the sacrarium: [from the Vatican’s \*Redemptionis Sacramentum: \*](http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20040423_redemptionis-sacramentum_en.html) > [@](#): > > [107.]In accordance with what is laid down by the canons, “one who throws away the consecrated species or takes them away or keeps them for a sacrilegious purpose, incurs a _latae sententiae_ excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See; a cleric, moreover, may be punished by another penalty, not excluding dismissal from the clerical state”. To be regarded as pertaining to this case is any action that is voluntarily and gravely disrespectful of the sacred species. **Anyone, therefore, who acts contrary to these norms, for example casting the sacred species into the sacrarium or in an unworthy place or on the ground, incurs the penalties laid down.** Furthermore all will remember that once the distribution of Holy Communion during the celebration of Mass has been completed, the prescriptions of the Roman Missal are to be observed, and in particular, whatever may remain of the Blood of Christ must be entirely and immediately consumed by the Priest or by another minister, according to the norms, while the consecrated hosts that are left are to be consumed by the Priest at the altar or carried to the place for the reservation of the Eucharist. _eta : sacred species is the bread and wine, btw_ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/46 "2009-10-13T19:47:54Z")
It’s not _dumped_ in: To the extent possible, the Eucharist is to be consumed. But when, for instance, you’re washing out the cups used for the wine, or the purificators (napkins) used to wipe off the cups, it’s inevitable that there will be traces of it left which cannot be consumed. That’s what the sacrarium is for. ---
**Author:** ![Donovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@Donovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donovan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/47 "2009-10-13T19:54:30Z")
no argument here on that point here; I guess ‘the remnants of the Eucharist’ is what threw me, I thought you meant the leftovers, which are eaten/drank by the priest, as you imply. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/48 "2009-10-13T20:22:21Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Consumed by the priest? As in he drank it? > Does that mean he’d then have holy pee? If so, would he have to piss in a piscina? And what about the indigestible contents of the host? So, a part of the body of Christ is turned into … ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/49 "2009-10-13T20:30:55Z")
The simple answer to the question is - as much as your faith allows. if your requirement, say when facing demons, requires freshly sanctified water, then nothing else will do - if you simply trying to test for possession - perhaps diluted, setting in the trunk of the car for ‘god’ knows how long water may do the trick. It really depends on the task at hand. - From the Book of Winchester. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/50 "2009-10-14T02:39:39Z")
I think I read somewhere that because of all the Eucharist wine being drunk after Mass, a lot of priests ended up becoming alcoholics – true? Oh, and I thought this joke might be appropriate: A priest was was working the confessional one day. A small boy came in and said, “Father, I talked back to my mother this morning.” The priest handed him a cup and said “Here, drink some of this holy water.” The next person came in, an old man and said, “Father, I was out drinking last night and I told my wife I was just watching sports with my friends.” Again, the priest handed him a cup and said, “Here, drink some holy water.” Next, a woman comes in, and she’s giggling hysterically. “Father, I peed in the holy water.” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/51 "2009-10-14T02:45:03Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > And what about the indigestible contents of the host? So, a part of the body of Christ is turned into … If I recall my Catholic schooling correctly, once the host no longer retains the physical form of bread it is no longer considered to be the body of Christ. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/52 "2009-10-14T02:49:09Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > And what about the indigestible contents of the host? So, a part of the body of Christ is turned into … As the host must be made from nothing more than wheat flour and water, there is nothing indigestible about it to begin with. Regarding the attempt at absurdist reduction, once the host is no longer bread, it is no longer the Body of Christ, whether that occurs at the bottom of the sacrarium or within the duodenum. As to holy water, it is a sacramental, meaning an object employed for symbolic purposes and, outside of fiction, it has no inherent properties, at all. It is blessed for use in baptisms simply to show respect for the sacrament of Baptism and is used in blessings with the same intention. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/53 "2009-10-14T03:07:10Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > If I recall my Catholic schooling correctly, once the host no longer retains the physical form of bread it is no longer considered to be the body of Christ. Ooh, Jesus melts in your mouth! ---
**Author:** ![Silophant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Silophant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silophant)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/54 "2009-10-14T05:04:38Z")
Nah, he sticks to the roof of your mouth and must be scraped off with your tongue. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/55 "2009-10-14T06:05:42Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > And you do not increase the concentration of [sup]2[/sup]H[sub]2[/sub]O molecules in your sample by distillation or evaporation; the molecules would simply evaporate in the same manner as ordinary water molecules. So, it becomes holy steam? Does this mean I can have a holy steam bath? ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/56 "2009-10-14T14:31:36Z")
You can contrive all kinds of edge scenarios. What happens when someone has communion and immediately vomits? regurgitates? spits it out? Is the priest supposed to pick it up and consume it? The short answer to all those is that things are what they are while they are doing what you intended them to be and cease to be it when they are no longer serving that purpose. You can bless the lake for whatever reason. That means that while you are there, whatever amount of water you use for whatever it was is holy, the rest is not. Once you are done, then none of it is holy water. It may not stand to scientific scrutiny but it makes sense and is simply to understand and observe. Ditto for all the post consumption issues. Once consumed, it is whatever the body makes of it. There is no holy GI contents and holy shit or holy sweat. As for that maximum 2:1 dilution ratio that maintains holiness, is that diluted mix then just regular holy water? You can then dilute it 2:1 again and still be holy. Or is it then diluted holy water that needs to be separately stored, labeled and used? Again, not an issue. Holy water is such by intention more than by science. If you need it to be holy then it is, if you don’t it isn’t. Or at least that was the common sense rule they thought us at Catholic Seminary. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/57 "2009-10-14T15:09:49Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > You can contrive all kinds of edge scenarios. What happens when someone has communion and immediately vomits? regurgitates? Have you read Angela’s Ashes? They called in a priest. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/58 "2009-10-14T15:12:09Z")
Homeopathic Holy Water? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/59 "2009-10-14T15:31:34Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Have you read Angela’s Ashes? They called in a priest. When I was a kid I sneezed once after I had returned to my seat after communion, and got fragments of the host on my hands. I licked them off. I didn’t look too hard for other fragments that might have ended up on the floor, since I didn’t want cause a crisis. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601/60 "2009-10-14T17:05:05Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > When I was a kid I sneezed once after I had returned to my seat after communion, and got fragments of the host on my hands. I licked them off. I didn’t look too hard for other fragments that might have ended up on the floor, since I didn’t want cause a crisis. Well, that was pretty much the official teaching we got. Handle the obvious, forget about the rest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-can-holy-water-be-diluted/513601.md?page=4)