{"id":2039,"date":"2011-05-19T21:49:20","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T21:49:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bisericaortodoxaaurora.com\/?page_id=2039"},"modified":"2026-06-25T01:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T05:21:10","slug":"2039-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sfioanevanghelistul.ca\/wordpress\/en\/randuieli-bisericesti\/2039-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Water Blessing"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is the Little Water Blessing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Little Water Blessing is the popular name for the service of the Small Aghiasma or the lesser consecration of water. It is performed by the priest in churches or in the homes of the faithful on various occasions. The service of blessing water includes the consecration of the water, the sprinkling of holy water on those present and throughout all the rooms, as well as prayers for the protection and well-being of the home and for the physical and spiritual health of those who live there.<\/p>\n

Why do we perform the house blessing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The house blessing is to the home what confession is to a person. Just as through confession\u2014by confessing one\u2019s sins and receiving absolution from the priest\u2014a person is cleansed, purifies their soul, and renews the grace received at baptism, in the same way, through the sprinkling of holy water and the priest\u2019s special prayers, the consecrated home is cleansed of all evil and all wicked deeds, whether caused by the sins of those who dwell in it, by ill-wishers, or by evil spirits. Through the periodic performance of the house blessing, the place, the house, and all the things within it are reconsecrated, after a time during which our inevitable sins and less-than-proper deeds have defiled the house. There is one thing we believe, which we learn from the Holy Scriptures and which our Church has taught from the very beginning. Namely, man is in solidarity with everything that surrounds him, so that the consequences of his actions also affect his surroundings, his home, and the things within it. Man\u2019s evil deeds, sins, and transgressions defile the space in which he commits them or lives, just as his good deeds and the purity of his life sanctify his surroundings. In this regard, a very true saying has been preserved among the people, one that, at least initially, conveyed the meaning described above: \u201cMan sanctifies the place.\u201d Indeed, man sanctifies the place, but it is also man who defiles it, who disfigures or soils it through the ugliness and filth of his soul.<\/p>\n

When can or should we have a house blessing performed?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In principle, the priest must and can perform a house blessing at the believer\u2019s home, \u201cwhenever the believer requests it.\u201d Therefore, whenever the believer feels the need to cleanse and sanctify their home\u2014just as they feel the need for relief and cleansing from sins through confession\u2014they may call the priest to their home to perform a house blessing. It is best for the house blessing to be performed on a day of fasting, Wednesday or Friday, since it is a service of purification, cleansing, and exorcism, which is less suited to feast days or other days of the week, but also because the person requesting the blessing must prepare through fasting and prayer.<\/p>\n

In the past, and even today in some regions, it was customary to perform the blessing on the first day of each month. This, of course, is a very good and desirable practice. Instead of this blessing on the first day of each month, the custom has been preserved in many parts of our Church for the priest to go from house to house to sprinkle holy water. He no longer performs the blessing of the water in every home, but performs it at the church just once and then sprinkles all the homes in the parish with this holy water. That is why people say that the priest comes on \u201cthe first day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Blessing of the House After a Death in the Family<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is customary that after a death in the home, a few days after the funeral\u2014when those in the household have had time to prepare\u2014a house blessing is performed. Christians feel the need to have the home re-consecrated and blessed not because the deceased has in any way defiled the home, but because the place and the home have been touched by death. Rightly so, death is considered the most terrifying form of evil and a consequence of sin. \u201cFor the wages of sin is death,\u201d says the Holy Apostle Paul (Rom. 6:23).<\/p>\n

All the more so, a blessing ceremony must be performed in the house or place where a murder or other crime or abomination has been committed (abortion, attempted suicide, bloodshed, plague, misfortune, or accidents of any kind, etc.), because all these things happen at the instigation and through the work of the devil and evil spirits.<\/p>\n

What must we do, and how should we prepare for a house blessing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anyone who wishes to call a priest to perform a house blessing must know how to prepare for it, taking into account the following. First, it is good for everyone in the house to go to confession, so that before the house is cleansed and blessed, they themselves may be cleansed and blessed of the sins and evils that also affect the home in which they live. If it is not during Lent, then those in the house should know that they must fast for three days beforehand, or at least on that day itself, and avoid quarrels, enmity, cursing, or other evils.<\/p>\n

Second, the house where the blessing is to take place must be cleaned as thoroughly as possible, from one end to the other, including all the items inside. It is unthinkable to sprinkle holy water and say prayers to cleanse the house of evil while the house remains dirty and unkempt.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, any service performed by a priest in a home is equivalent to bringing God into that home through His sanctifying work and His blessing. Now, if when we receive an ordinary guest\u2014a fellow human being\u2014we tidy up and clean the house to welcome them properly, how much more so when we wish to welcome God Himself. Just as we, as people, wash, groom, and dress ourselves when we go to church or when any service is performed for us, so too must our home be prepared when we hold a service in it.<\/p>\n

For the blessing service, the believer should prepare a small table, beautifully set and facing east<\/strong> (the table may be placed in front of or near the icon or the prayer corner in the home), on which the following items should be placed:<\/p>\n