at the entrance of our Catholic chapels, are not
imitations, but an unbroken and never interrupted continuation of the
same _aqua minaria_, or _amula_, which the learned Montfaucon, in his
_Antiquities_, shows to have been vases of holy water, which were placed
by the heathens at the entrance of their temples, to sprinkle themselves
with upon entering those sacred edifices."[338]

Whether in the Baptism of initial reception into the Church, or in these
minor lustrations, water is the material agent employed, the great
cleansing fluid in Nature, and therefore the best symbol for
purification. Over this water a mantra is pronounced, in the English
ritual represented by the prayer, "Sanctify this water to the mystical
washing away of sin," concluding with the formula, "In the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." This is the Word
of Power, and it is accompanied by the Sign of Power, the Sign of the
Cross made over the surface of the water.

The Word and the Sign give to the water, as before explained, a property
it previously had not, and it is rightly named "holy water." The dark
powers will not approach it; sprinkled on the body it gives a sense of
peace, and conveys new spiritual life. When a child is baptised, the
spiritual energy given to the water by the Word and the Sign reinforces
the spiritual life in the child, and then the Word of Power is again
spoken, this time over the child, and the Sign is traced on his
forehead, and in his subtle bodies the vibrations are felt, and the
summons to guard the life thus sanctified goes forth through the
invisible world; for this Sign is at once purifying and
protective--purifying by the life that is poured forth through it,
protective by the vibrations it sets up in the subtle bodies. Those
vibrations form a guardian wall against the attacks of hostile
influences in the invisible worlds, and every time that holy water is
touched, the Word pronounced, and the Sign made, the energy is renewed,
the vibrations are reinforced, both being recognised as potent in the
invisible worlds, and bringing aid to the operator.

In the early Church, Baptism was preceded by a very careful preparation,
those admitted to the Church being mostly converts from surrounding
faiths. A convert passed through three definite stages of instruction,
remaining in each grade till he had mastered its teachings, and he was
then admitted to the Church by Baptism. Only after that wa