**ACQUASANTIERA** — This is the vessel intended to hold holy water. When placed near the entrance doors of churches, it generally takes the form of a basin or trough, supported by a pedestal and firmly fixed to the ground. It is usually carved from stone or marble, and in larger churches it sometimes assumes artistic and monumental forms. If, on the other hand, it is used to carry holy water about as needed, it consists of a metal bucket equipped with a handle. The water is then sprinkled on persons or objects to be blessed by means of an instrument called an aspergillum.
The acquasantiera in churches is not, as some have claimed, a substitute for the *cantilaurus* (q.V. Cantaro) or fountain, which in ancient times stood in the middle of the basilica’s atrium, where the faithful would wash their hands and faces with non-blessed water for the purpose of inner purification before entering the temple for prayer.
Rather, it arose from the desire to allow those who had been unable to attend the Sunday sprinkling to make the sign of the cross with holy water and to take some for their private devotions. The use of the acquasantiera in churches does not, in fact, predate the tenth century and is therefore only slightly later than the introduction of the solemn Sunday sprinkling. Around the same period, the synodal letter attributed to Leo IV (PL 96, 1376) stipulates that every rector of a church must have a special vessel for preserving holy water. A magnificent example of such portable acquasantiere is the ivory bucket of Archbishop Gotofredo (10th century), preserved in the treasure of the cathedral of Milan. Several ancient vessels of metal or wood, bearing Christian emblems or inscriptions, cannot be properly called acquasantiere, since their purpose was to hold water specially sanctified for use in baptism. Such are the so-called “bucket of Luni” and other similar vessels, of which a list and illustrations may be seen in DACL, I, cols. 758 ff. Diocesan synods recommend that acquasantiere be kept scrupulously clean and that the holy water within them be renewed frequently, at least every week and even more often. As for methods of ensuring the necessary disinfection of acquasantiere, see the study by A. Gemelli, *Il problema igienico nelle Chiese*, in *Scuola Cattolica*, 1 (1908), pp. 375 ff.