Michigan college ministry welcomes freshmen to campus by passing out holy water

Detroit, Mich., Sep 8, 2024 / 07:00 am

For three years, members of Detroit Catholic Campus Ministry have kicked off the academic year at local colleges and universities by offering new students a small, simple bottle of holy water and a prayer.

The gesture attracts students to its table at local college campus involvement fairs, serving as an invitation for new students not only to join in fellowship with Catholics on campus but also to take a blessing with them wherever they live during their first year at college.

Detroit Catholic Campus Ministry serves students at Wayne State University, the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and surrounding campuses, including Henry Ford College and the College for Creative Studies.

Fall outreach for clubs and groups on campus is an important time for campus ministries, chaplain Father Matthew Hood explained, and holy water has served as a unique draw. 

“People are so interested in the bottles that a lot of people come up to the table and say, ‘What are those? Can I have one?’ It is a great conversation starter to tell people what holy water is and how it is used,” Hood told Detroit Catholic. “Students are always very interested in it, and they usually go fairly quickly once we get to campus.”

Most of the students who approach “have no idea what holy water is,” Hood continued. “We communicate that it is a way to take a blessing with you, to bless the space that you are in, and bless yourself with the holy water.”

Students don’t have to be Catholic to take a bottle and are encouraged to use holy water to bless their dorms or apartments or, if they are commuters, their cars and homes.

The bottles themselves have a blessed history, Hood said. Each year, members of Detroit Catholic Campus Ministry organize drives to collect them from parishes, who receive them on Holy Thursday during the chrism Mass with Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron. The bottles originally contained holy oils blessed by the archbishop and used throughout the year in parishes across the Archdiocese of Detroit.

“Every year, there are old holy oil bottles that nobody needs anymore and that have to be properly disposed of; you aren’t supposed to just throw them out, you are supposed to make sure that the oil is burned properly and that they are purified and cleaned properly as well,” Hood said. “What happens in a lot of parishes is they end up farther and farther in the back of the shelf in the sacristy because they haven’t had a chance to do that.”

Hood said Detroit Catholic Campus Ministry has been able to collect and repurpose the bottles, some of which are very old, that would otherwise be collecting dust.

Campus ministers then invite student members to participate in the proper cleaning and purification of the bottles, which includes making sure all the holy oil is burned, outreach coordinator Anna Picasso told Detroit Catholic. 

“It’s an awesome opportunity to teach students about sacramentals as our students help us through the whole purification process,” Picasso said. “We teach them about the reality of these tangible signs.”

Picasso added the entire process presents a dual opportunity to engage students already involved in campus ministries and to invite new members.

“Holy water is actually something that students are often fascinated by, and that’s in many ways thanks to a lot of cultural horror movies,” Picasso said. “But this gives us an opportunity to actually teach them what holy water is and also a means to reach them and open up a conversation to convey the reality of the care that we desire for them as they bless their spaces, their cars, and their homes while they are on campus.”

Picasso said upperclassmen involved in Catholic campus ministries have told her and Hood that they still have their bottles from freshman year. 

“I still have my bottle to this day. That is how I was interested in [Detroit Catholic Campus Ministry’s] table, because I saw they had shirts that said ‘God loves Detroit,’ and I saw holy water on their table,” Wayne State University junior Idalia Shadhaya told Detroit Catholic. “I thought that was really neat, so I grabbed one and sparked a conversation.”

Shadhaya, 20, has been an active participant ever since, serving as a liturgical minister during student Masses. Shadhaya is currently preparing to start her own Bible study small group. 

“[The ministry] has made a huge difference in my college experience,” Shadhaya said. “It really promotes fellowship and growing alongside one another and really getting to know people on a deeper spiritual and friendship level.” 

Shadhaya said she keeps the bottle of holy water from her freshman year on the windowsill in her off-campus apartment and uses it to bless all the doorways in her home in addition to blessing herself.

“It is cool to see it every day and be reminded of my faith and of Jesus and how sacred the Catholic Church is,” Shadhaya said. “It is a daily representation of my role in Detroit Catholic Campus Ministry.”

Picasso said she is grateful such a small gesture has stuck with students like Shadhaya. 

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“The holy water is a great opportunity to encounter students and invite them into a relationship with Jesus. That’s the whole purpose behind it,” Picasso added. 

This article was first published by Detroit Catholic on Aug. 30, 2024, and has been reprinted here with permission.