I saw Water flowing...

''The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of majesty hath thundered, the Lord is upon many waters.'' (Psalm 28:3)

As we are in Paschaltide, a post about the Rite of Sprinkling before the principal Mass of Sunday seems apt. The celebrant, vested in cope, kneels at the foot of the Altar, intones Vidi Aquam, and then sprinkles the Altar three times, first in the middle, then the Gospel side and lastly the Epistle side, he then taps the ball of the sprinkler on his head and signs himself, rises, genuflects, and then sprinkles the Minsters (if it is a High Mass) other clergy (assuming there is a liturgical choir), then the servers, choir and congregation, reciting in a low voice, or not uncommonly, chanting the prayer with the choir. The Vidi Aquam is longer and more complex than the Asperges, and I think more beautiful. I produce here the text with my translation:

Vidi aquam egredientem de templo a latare dextro, Alleluia; et omnes ad quos pervenit aqua ista salvi facti sunt, et dicent: Alleluia, Alleluia. Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus; quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius. Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Vidi aquam...

I saw water flowing, forth from the Temple on the right side, Alleluia; and all those to whom that water came were saved, and they shall say: Alleluia, Alleluia. Confess the Lord because He is good; because His mercy is from of ages. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen. I saw water...

Holy Water is one of many Sacramentals, sacred signs that reflect the Seven Sacraments and have the power of driving away venial sins to prepare the Soul for God's Grace. The Rite of Sprinkling is therefore a very fitting ceremony to precede the august Sacrifice of the Mass, as each one of us falls short of the glory of God (as St Paul writes), and since God's house is a small portion of His Kingdom on earth, the Rite of Sprinkling makes us worthier to stand in His presence and to partake of the Blessed Sacrament. Incidently, it is told in The Silmarillion that there lives yet an echo of the Music of the Ainur in water...

Anyone who wants to listen to a very good recording of the Vidi Aquam should go here.