THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WATER. BIBLICAL AND PATRISTIC REFERENCES
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WATER. BIBLICAL AND PATRISTIC REFERENCES

Summary/Abstract: Water has always been an important part of the Christian canonical elements. In the Old Testament, water was the symbol of purity and reconciliation with God or redemption. It was also meant to be God’s instrument in the case of the Levitical cleansing and cleanliness acts, preparing the human being for holiness, a holiness conferred, according to the New Law, by water itself. The importance of water in its entirety is present throughout the Bible, being rendered by its occurrence in people’s daily existence and in every purification rite. In the New Testament, holy water became a very active and powerful symbol of God’s divine and cleansing power, rendered on Earth by the Holy Spirit. The idea that creation stems from primordial waters is also mentioned in the New Testament, and sciences admit that water is the absolute condition allowing for both physical and spiritual life. The contact of Our Lord’s Body with the waters of the Jordan River is the act that sanctifies water as the Holy Sacrament of Batism. This event allows the Church ministers to bless water by uterring prayers and by immersing the Holy Cross into it, a moment which cleanses and transforms water into a means of bringing healing and grace upon human beings.

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