Asperges

Asperges (from Latin aspergere, to sprinkle) is the ceremony of sprinkling the congregation with holy water at the beginning of the Liturgy of St. Tikhon of Moscow (normally Sundays and high feast days) in the Western Rite. The liturgical impliments used by the celebrant for this ritual are a baton or brush for sprinkling, called an aspergill, and a vessel containing the water, called the asperorium.

The rite of sprinkling is accompanied by singing a portion of Psalm 51:

Thou shalt purge me, O Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Have mercy upon me, O God, after Thy great goodness.

This, however, is substituted on Sundays and feast days from Easter to Whitsunday with verses from Ezekiel 47 and Psalm 118:

I beheld water which proceeded from the temple, on the right side thereof, Alleluia;

And all they to whom that water came were healed every one, and they say,

Alleluia, Alleluia.

O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, and His mercy endureth forever.

External links

• Text of the Liturgy of St. Tikhon of Moscow