Aspersion
act of sprinkling with water, especially holy water, in a religious context
Aspersion (la. aspergere/aspersio), in a religious context, is the act of sprinkling with water, especially holy water. Aspersion is a method used in baptism as an alternative to immersion or affusion. The word is formed of the Latin aspergere, 'to sprinkle', of ad, 'to', and spargo, 'I scatter' (Ezekiel 36:25–26, 1 Corinthians 10:2, cf. Psalm 77:16-20).
In addition, aspersion is performed as part of certain rites to remind people of their baptism, such as the renewal of baptismal vows performed by the Catholic Church and Lutheran Church at Easter.
Apostolic times
Baptism by affusion (pouring) was allowed in exceptional circumstances in the early church, being allowed by the Didache:
And concerning baptism, baptize this way: Having first said all these things, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in living water. But if you have no living water, baptize into other water; and if you cannot do so in cold water, do so in warm. But if you have neither, pour out water three times upon the head into the name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit.
There are no accounts that clearly show sprinkling rather than pouring or immersion was used.
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This entry incorporates text from “Aspersion” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.