Air suci: Perbedaan antara revisi

[[Berkas:Holy_water_St_TeresaHoly water St Teresa's_church_Clarendon_Street_Dublin_2006s church Clarendon Street Dublin 2006.jpg|thumb|right|Air suci yang disediakan bagi para umat untuk dibawa pulang ke rumah(Gereja Santa Teresa, Clarendon Street, [[Dublin]]).]]

Air suci adalah air yang telah diberkati dan dipisahkan untuk pembaptisan. Air ini juga digunakan sebagai unsur sakramen dan perjamuan kudus. Air suci kadang-kadang ditampung di dalam sebuah kolam, wadah atau bak tempat baptis gereja yang biasanya terletak baik di jalan masuk bangunan gereja maupun kadang-kadang di sebuah ruangan atau bangunan terpisah yang bernama ''baptistery''; letaknya di jalan masuk gereja berfungsi untuk mengingatkan kembali akan pentingnya pembaptisan sebagai salah satu ritual & ritus utama penerimaan seseorang ke dalam tubuh iman Kristiani yang kudus. Wadah yang lebih kecil, disebut ''stoups'', biasanya diletakkan di pintu-pintu masuk gereja. Sebagai sebuah peringatan akan pembaptian, khusus umat-umat dari gereja [[Katolik Roma]] mencelupkan jari mereka ke dalam air suci dan kemudian membuat semacam [[Tanda Salib]] dengan jarinya yang masih basah saat berjalan masuk gereja sambil melafalkan "'''Demi nama Bapa, Putra dan Roh Kudus, Amen''". Upacara liturgi bisa dilaksanakan pada hari-hari Minggu dengan Ritus Pemberkatan dan Pemercikan Air Suci, dimanadi mana air suci dipercikkan pada kongregasi (umat yang hadir); prosesi ini disebut ''aspersion'', yang dalam [[Bahasa Latin]] berarti memercikkan air. Upacara ini berasal dari abad ke-9. Sebuah ''aspergill'' atau ''aspergillum'' adalah sebuah kuas atau dedahanan yang digunakan untuk memercikkan air. Sebuah ''[[aspersorium]]'' adalah tempat yang menampung air suci yang dicelupi dengan ''aspergillum''. Garam bisa dicampurkan ke dalam air "dimanadi mana hal tersebut adalah sebuah kebiasaan."

The rite of blessing takes place during the [[Easter Vigil]] in preparation for [[baptism]]. Holy water can also be blessed on any day as part of the [[Water rite|baptismal rite]]; the same prayer of blessing is used.

Although Orthodox do not normally bless themselves with holy water upon entering a church, a quantity of holy water is typically kept in a [[baptismal font|font]] placed in the [[narthex]] (entrance) of the church, where it is available for anyone who would like to take some of it home with them.

Often, when objects are blessed in the church (such as the palms on [[Palm Sunday]], [[Icons]] or sacred vessels) the blessing is completed by a triple sprinkling with holy water using the words, "This (''name of item'') is blessed by the sprinkling of this holy water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

Holy water is sometimes sprinkled on items or people when they are blessed outside of the church building, as part of the prayers of blessing. For instance, in [[Alaska]], the fishing boats are sprinkled with holy water at the start of the fishing season as the priest prays for the crews' safety and success.

The use of holy water is based on the [[Baptism of Jesus]] by [[John the Baptist]] in the [[Jordan River|River Jordan]], and the Orthodox interpretation of this event. In their view, John's baptism was a baptism of repentance, and the people came to have their sins washed away by the water. Since Jesus had no sin, but was God incarnate, his baptism had the effect not of washing away Jesus' sins, but of blessing the water, making it holy—and with it all of creation, so that it may be used fully for its original created purpose to be an instrument of life.

Jesus' baptism is commemorated in the Orthodox Church at the Feast of [[Theophany]] (literally "manifestation of God") on January 6 (for those Orthodox Christians who use the [[Julian Calendar]], January 6 falls on the [[Gregorian Calendar]] date of January 19). At the [[Vespers]] of this feast, a font of holy water is typically blessed in the church, to provide holy water for the parish's use in the coming year. The next morning, after the [[Divine Liturgy]] a procession goes from the church to a nearby river, lake or other body of water, to bless that water as well. This represents the redemption of all creation as part of humanity's salvation.

Then, following a lengthy set of didactic prayers that expound on the nature of the feast and summarize [[salvation]] history, praising God's creation of and mastery over the [[Classical element|elements]], the priest makes the [[Sign of the Cross]] over the water with his hand and prays specifically for the blessing to be invoked upon it. At the climax of the service, he immerses the hand cross into the water three times in imitation of Christ's baptism to the singing of the festal [[troparion]]:

The priest then blesses the entire church and congregation with the newly consecrated water. All come forward to be sprinkled over the head with the Theophany Water as the kiss the hand cross, and to drink some of it.

The priest will then set out to bless the homes of all of the faithful with Theophany Water. In large parishes, this process will take some time. However, the priest must bless all of the houses of the faithful before the beginning of [[Great Lent]]. In monasteries the [[Hegumen]] (Superior) will bless the cells of all of the [[monk]]s.

</ref> and that water so blessed is no longer corruptible, but remains fresh for many years.<ref name="AbpJohn"/>

[[Berkas:Lourdes bidons vierges 2.jpg|thumb|270px|leht|Holy water from the cave of Massabielle]]

Many [[Muslims]] believe that water from the [[Zamzam|The Well of Zamzam]] in [[Mecca]] is divinely blessed. It is also believed to have [[supernatural]] properties{{Fact|date=July 2008}}.

* (Mother) Mary; Ware, (Archimandrite) Kallistos (Tr.)(1998). ''The Festal Menaion'' (reprint), pp 348-359348–359. South Canaan: St. Tikhon's Seminary Press. ISBN 1-878997-00-9.

* [[Isabel Florence Hapgood]] (Tr., Ed.)(1983). ''Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church'' (6th ed.), pp 189-197189–197. Englewood: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese.