# If you drink holy water... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 12, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213 "2009-08-12T20:00:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/1 "2009-08-12T20:00:28Z")
And a vampire bites you, does it hurt? The vampire, I mean, I’m pretty confident it would hurt you. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/2 "2009-08-12T20:11:22Z")
I have the feeling holy water is less holy once it’s been in your colon. This reminds me of a favorite line from a Buffy fanfic: “Christ!” Spike yelled. “Doesn’t it burn your mouth when you say that?” Anya asked. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/3 "2009-08-12T20:12:53Z")
I’m thinking you’d have to drink a massive quantity of it for it to reach any kind of dense level in your body. Better to just keep a Super Soaker filled with it within reach at all times. Maybe a few water balloons, just for good measure. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/4 "2009-08-12T20:16:50Z")
Israelis drink Holy Water almost exclusively\*. Haven’t seen many vampires around these parts, lately. Coincidence? You be the judge! 😃 - This is true – the Sea of Galilee is essentially the country’s fresh water reservoir. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/5 "2009-08-12T20:44:45Z")
Hurt? Nah. It’s kinda like adding a little Tabasco sauce to the meal. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/6 "2009-08-12T21:30:40Z")
Are there many vamipires in Italy? Folks there eat a lot of garlic, I hear. Same dealie-o right? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/7 "2009-08-13T00:38:02Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Hurt? Nah. It’s kinda like adding a little Tabasco sauce to the meal. Don’t forget what happened to that mosquito. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/8 "2009-08-13T02:01:47Z")
I was watching one of those shows where they go around and swab everyday places you touch, like stair railings, and door handles on subways, etc. etc. When they got all the results back the worst place for contamination was the holy water font on the local Catholic Church. The investigators were impressed with the diversity of the contamination as well as the quantity! So I’m going with yeah, it would hurt the vampire! ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/9 "2009-08-13T06:19:21Z")
I doubt it would have any effect on vampires, as far as those things go you’d expect the transubstantiated blood of Christ to be pretty potent and from what I can tell they don’t seem to mind if the victim’s been to mass. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/10 "2009-08-13T06:27:26Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > I doubt it would have any effect on vampires, as far as those things go you’d expect the transubstantiated blood of Christ to be pretty potent and from what I can tell they don’t seem to mind if the victim’s been to mass. In the brilliant but out-of-print DRACULA sequel/prequel by Jeffrey Sackett BLOOD OF THE IMPALER, it does affect one vampire (Lucy Westenra). Her victim had just gotten drunk off a flask of consecrated wine. As the blood goes into her system, she gets warmer & warmer… and explodes. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/11 "2009-08-13T07:41:15Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > I have the feeling holy water is less holy once it’s been in your colon. Wouldn’t that be kidneys or bladder, actually? I doubt much water (holy or normal) makes it as far as the colon. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/12 "2009-08-13T12:44:07Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Wouldn’t that be kidneys or bladder, actually? > I doubt much water (holy or normal) makes it as far as the colon. Water makes it EVERYWHERE in the body. 😉 In terms of the digestive tract, I believe water that you drink is primarily absorbed in the small intestine, but some gets into the bloodstream via the stomach lining and some is absorbed in the large intestine, aka the colon. In fact, there’s still a small proportion of water left in the feces, which affects its consistency. Once the bladder is dealing with water, of course, it’s soon to leave the human body, which I don’t think is what **Small Hen** was referring to - though aiming a stream of ‘holy urine’ at a vampire is a funny image too. And lots of water passes through the kidneys, mostly in the form of bloodstream plasma. Okay, that’s probably as much as I should contribute to the discussion for now 😃 ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/13 "2009-08-13T14:41:48Z")
Yeah, I was thinking mostly about the water that ends up in your blood. I mean, if I were to go for, say, a week, drinking nothing but holy water, then would my blood become holy by absorption? Or would the biological processes at work break down the holiness? How great of a concentration is needed to harm a vampire? (For some odd reason I don’t think my catholic cousin is going to seriously follow through and ask her priest.) This question was inspired by re-watching an old episode of Buffy in which a vampire is trying to dig for something in dirt which had holy water poured on it some time ago; it still causes him pain. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/14 "2009-08-13T15:39:25Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > Yeah, I was thinking mostly about the water that ends up in your blood. I mean, if I were to go for, say, a week, drinking nothing but holy water, then would my blood become holy by absorption? Or would the biological processes at work break down the holiness? How great of a concentration is needed to harm a vampire? Holy water in itself isn’t terribly mystical, it’s really just tap water that’s been blessed, so it would probably be a lot easier to skip the holy fast and ask the priest to say a blessing on you instead. Then again, I just had an awesome idea for bottled water: “_Aquasancta_, for all your demon-fighting needs”. There’s got to be a market for that somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/15 "2009-08-13T15:46:29Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > Yeah, I was thinking mostly about the water that ends up in your blood. I mean, if I were to go for, say, a week, drinking nothing but holy water, then would my blood become holy by absorption? Or would the biological processes at work break down the holiness? How great of a concentration is needed to harm a vampire? (For some odd reason I don’t think my catholic cousin is going to seriously follow through and ask her priest.) > > This question was inspired by re-watching an old episode of Buffy in which a vampire is trying to dig for something in dirt which had holy water poured on it some time ago; it still causes him pain. How about instead of drinking it, you get an IV? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/16 "2009-08-13T15:59:28Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > Then again, I just had an awesome idea for bottled water: “_Aquasancta_, for all your demon-fighting needs”. There’s got to be a market for that somewhere… New Orleans. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/17 "2009-08-13T16:07:09Z")
How do you make holy water? Boil the hell out of it? Yes, I saw **Telperian’s** post a few back. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/18 "2009-08-13T16:16:03Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > This question was inspired by re-watching an old episode of Buffy in which a vampire is trying to dig for something in dirt which had holy water poured on it some time ago; it still causes him pain. If that’s the episode I think it is, then there was no real connection with holy water - the vampire was trying to dig in ‘consecrated ground’ with his bare hands. Apparently the effect is the same. Which brings up the question of if burying a dead person in consecrated ground will prevent them from rising as a vampire, or just really piss the vampire off. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/19 "2009-08-13T16:35:27Z")
I attended a Catholic school through fifth grade. The purpose of the holy water fonts (located just inside each entrance to the church, in our case) was explained to us in the second grade. One of my classmates tasted the water when the teacher wasn’t looking; he said it tasted soapy. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213/20 "2009-08-13T16:41:09Z")
Holy water that’s been blessed in the Easter service gets Holy Oil dumped into it and the Paschal Candle dunked into it. That can’t do much for the flavor. Not all holy water comes from that ceremony, IIRC, but they don’t have an incentive to make it taste good or keep it excessively clean – you’re not _supposed_ to drink it, after all. So I wouldn’t be surprised if it tastes bad. On the other hand, holy water droplets must inevitably circulate in the air over the fonts – what concentration is needed to cause a vampire harm? Is holy water still holy if it’s in evaporated form? What concentration i the blood/lymph/sweat is needed to affect a vampire? I think you’d do better if you did like the folks in _From Dusk to Dawn_ and filled some super-soakers with it, rather than relying on passive protection. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-drink-holy-water/506213.md?page=2)