Aspergillum

ASPERGILLUM. – This is an instrument of silver, gold, or another metal, used to sprinkle people and objects with holy water. In addition to the stoups for holy water at the entrances of churches, smaller portable vessels soon came into use, so that the various aspersions required by the liturgy could be carried out more easily. The first Christians performed them with sprigs of hyssop or other fragrant herbs, such as laurel, myrtle, and olive. In the form most commonly used today, the a. consists of a metal shaft ending in a perforated ball or in white bristles. The Roman Pontifical prescribes the aspergillum of hyssop for the consecration or blessing of churches and altars, in harmony with the formula of blessing: Asperges me hyssopo.

Enrico Dante