5. The emptying of holy water fonts
Over the years, some parishes take away the holy water from the holy water fonts or even removed the fonts itself during the lenten period, some have even filled them with sand in some cases.
Their reasons are to convey the thought that Lent is a time of spiritual dryness. That is, a “desert” experience that precedes Easter, in which we refrain from using the holy water sacramental, but, despite its popularity in some places, this practice is not permitted.
It is true that it has been the Church’s practice to empty the holy water fonts during Triduum, but this practice is for a different reason. It is not permitted to have them empty through the whole season of Lent.
The Congregation for Divine Worship stated thus,
This Dicastery is able to respond that the removing of Holy Water from the fonts during the season of Lent is not permitted, in particular, for two reasons:
– The liturgical legislation in force does not foresee this innovation, which in addition to being “praeter legem” [i.e., “apart from the law”] is contrary to a balanced understanding of the season of Lent, which though truly being a season of penance, is also a season rich in the symbolism of water and baptism, constantly evoked in liturgical texts.
– The encouragement of the Church that the faithful avail themselves frequently of the sacraments is to be understood to apply also to the season of Lent. The “fast” and “abstinence” which the faithful embrace in this season does not extend to abstaining from the sacraments or sacramentals of the Church.
In other words, the practice of the Church has been to empty the Holy Water fonts on the days of the Sacred Triduum. This is in line with the preparation of the blessing of the water at the Easter Vigil, and it corresponds to those days on which the Eucharist is not celebrated that is, the Good Friday and Holy Saturday [3/14/03: Prot. N. 569/00/L].