holy water font
Illustration — Holy water font at the entrance of the Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston, Texas A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or other Christian art. It is used in Catholic, as well as many Lutheran and Anglican churches, to make the sign of the cross using the holy water upon entrance of the church.
Also recorded as stoup · holy water stoup · bénetier
holy water font
Jwh · CC BY-SA 3.0 lu
- Field
- holy water vessel · liturgical furniture
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Illustration — Holy water font at the entrance of the Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston, Texas A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or other Christian art. It is used in Catholic, as well as many Lutheran and Anglican churches, to make the sign of the cross using the holy water upon entrance of the church.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for holy water font. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
wikipedia incomplete · checked 25 September 2026
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
wikidata · Q642861 · wikipedia · Holy water font
In this article
Gallery
Holy water is blessed by a priest or a deacon, and its usage by Christians serves as a reminder of their baptismal vows. The holy water font is a derivative of the cantharus, which has been used by Christians since the time of the early Church to perform ablutions before entering the church (while these are no longer normative in Western Christianity, canthari are found at the entrance of certain Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox churches).
• Illustration — Holy water font in Santa Maria Maddalena, Rome, Italy • Illustration — A carved stoup at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Pondicherry, India • Illustration — Carved stoup at the entrance of the Church of St Mary and St David, Kilpeck, England • Illustration — Holy water font at Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Church, Paris, France
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Furniture
924 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- high chairTerminology
- high strikerTerminology
- Hikone screenTerminology
- hollow log coffinTerminology
- home altarTerminology
- home apothecaryTerminology
- home stoupTerminology
- hook-a-duckTerminology
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with holy water font?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.