Opinion on holy water

[Xithras]

Help me settle a debate. As I said in another post, my grandfather recently died and I was left many of his religious items. One of these items was a small container of holy water (maybe a cup to a cup and a half of liquid) that was personally blessed by John Paul II when my grandfather visited Rome. My grandfather, an ex-priest, used the water when praying with gravely ill and dying people.

Personally, I want to keep the water (and its container) as a way of remembering my grandfather and the work he did, AND the pope who blessed it...the only pope I've known in my life. Many people in my family disagree. They believe that the water should be used, and that I should give it to the church if I'm not going to do anything with it myself. Others think I should just dump it.

What would you suggest?

[Cuban_Liberal]

1. What a treasure!

By all means, keep it!

:D

[Maeve]

2. Keep it and the blessed memories it gives you

It's a sacramental, like a blessed rosary--the value is in the heart of the holder. It has more value as a treasure from the lives of those men than as a quick blessing.

And on a materialistic level(written at least half in jest), imagine the E-Bay value if they canonize John Paul II! (tell that to thr "just dump it" folks!):dunce:

[DemBones DemBones]

3. Would you not use it yourself? I don't know if you're

a practicing Catholic, but if you are, you can certainly use it yourself. If you're not going to use the holy water, why not give it to a priest who will? You'd still have the container and could save a little of the water, too, to retain the connection to John Paul II, assuming the water was not blessed within the container. I'm thinking that eventually the water will evaporate unless the container is sealed awfully tight so you may as well use it.

[harris8]

4. I'll second that. Use half, but keep the remainder "forever"...

... dunno if this would be gaudy or tacky, but you could have the whole container containing the remainder of the water sealed up in a block of clear lucite, which should last somewhere near forever, being unbreakable, and the water cannot evaporate. You could affix a small engraved plate with a memorial to your grandfather, and brief description of the origin of the water.