Talks on the Sacramentals, by Msgr Arthur Tonne - Asperges

''And a man that is clean shall dip hyssop in them (the living waters), and shall sprinkle therewith all the tent, and all the furniture, and the men that are defiled with touching any such thing." Numbers, 19:18.

One day a small boy wandered down to the brink of a gurgling brook. He watched the dancing waters and tried to talk to the jumping waves. But nobody wanted to stop and talk. He asked them where they came from, but there was no answer.

At last a tiny water-drop, splashed upon a near-by rock, looked up and smiled at the little fellow, who immediately asked:

"Say, where did you come from?"

"A long time ago," answered the water-drop, "I lived with countless sisters and brothers in the wide, deep ocean. We had lots of fun. We went high up on mighty waves and then tumbled down into deep, dark troughs. We splashed on boats and played with the fish.

"But one day I decided to see what there was in the world beside the ocean. I grasped a sunbeam and clung fast to him as he carried me up, up, way up above the clouds. There he shook me off and I began falling, right into a big, black cloud which floated over a mountain peak, settled down, and spread itself on the mountain side in a million drops of rain. I was one of them. I slipped on a rock and tumbled from pebble to rock, from rock to pebble, until I rolled into a tiny spring trickling into a valley. There I joined this little brook, which leads, I hope, back to the great ocean where I can play again with my brothers and sisters."

Just as the water-drop said this, a for-get-me-not reached out its root and drew in the water-drop to make it part of a beautiful flower.

Like the water-drops drawn up from the ocean by the rays of the sun and carried up to form clouds, so the water-drops blessed by the priest before Mass have, as it were, been carried up on the beams of God's love to His heavenly home there to receive a special power of helping the soul and body of those who use respectfully and receive with devotion the drops sprinkled over them in church.

If a simple flower can take a drop of water and turn it to its own uses, if all of nature can turn drops of water into a million uses, then surely the Almighty Creator of all flowers and all rain can turn drops of water to His supernatural uses.

Of Holy Water in general and of its blessing we will speak on another Sunday. Today we would like to speak of one of the uses of Holy Water, namely, the Asperges. The sprinkling of the congregation with Holy Water before the principal service on Sunday is called the Asperges, a Latin word meaning "sprinkle," because the prayer in that sacramental begins with the word "Asperges."

That prayer reads in English:

"Thou shalt sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow."

Usually just before the High Mass the priest blesses water. Vested in alb, cincture, stole and cope, he enters the sanctuary, and intones the words:

"Thou shalt sprinkle me..."

He sprinkles himself, the front of the altar and the altar platform. He genuflects and proceeds down the main aisle to the door sprinkling the people on either side. Meanwhile the choir sings the Asperges, adding:

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy."

After the "Glory be" the first part is repeated. At the altar the priest sings:

"Show us, O Lord, Thy mercy."

The choir answers:

"And grant us Thy salvation."

Priest: "O Lord, hear my prayer."

Choir: "And let my cry come unto Thee."

Priest: "The Lord be with you."

Choir: "And with thy spirit."

"Let us pray: Hear us, O Holy Lord, Father Almighty, everlasting God; and vouchsafe to send Thy holy angel from heaven, to guard, cherish, protect, visit, and defend all those who are assembled together in this house. Through Christ our Lord. Amen."

This striking ceremony has many meanings and purposes:

1. The altar is a symbol of Christ. The union between Christ and the people is brought out by the priest going among the people.

2. As the place of sacrifice, the altar brings many blessings. This ocean of grace is expressed by the drops of water sprinkled over the people.

3. Priest, altar, and faithful must come to the sacrifice as pure and clean as possible. The Holy water shows this.

4. The Asperges reminds us to renew every Sunday the remembrance of our baptism.

5. Still another purpose of this ceremony is to drive away all evil thoughts and distractions, all evil influences and hindrances. The evil spirits flee before the flood of water laden with God's grace.

You should bless yourself and genuflect on one knee as the priest walks by you down the aisle. It is not necessary that everyone be touched by one of the drops, because you all belong to the body of the congregation.

As you see the droplets fall over you of a Sunday morning, as you feel them gently touch you, remember that they have been blessed by God's representative, the priest, and that by the merits of Christ they have the power to help you if you receive this sacramental with proper devotion and thought.

Take these drops of grace into your heart as the for-get-me-not of our story reached out with its root and took the tiny drop of water from the brook. It is a means of God's grace and help for you. Amen.