Jo Ann,
The association of holy wells/springs with baptism is an attractive
idea, but I wonder how to document it. I have always assumed, without
giving it much thought (help me out here liturgists!), that the
blessings for holy water were done on water already drawn from its
source and placed in a container. It is possible that a stream or well
could be blessed by a priest, but I don't know of any examples of such
(usually a Christian holy well is associated with a saint and his/her
activities). I cannot think, off the top of my head, of any Anglo-Saxon
missionaries baptizing directly in a stream or other body of water which
then lead to the spot becoming holy (any continental examples?). One
would expect to find evidence in Bede or saints' lives of such a
transformation, along the lines of Pope Gregory's advice about turning
temples into churches. The absence of such evidence for wells and
streams (at least, my presumption of such an absence) may say something.
Can anyone think of early medieval European water sites (wells,
streams, lakes) associated with baptisms?
Karen
--
Dr. Karen Jolly
Associate Professor, History
University of Hawai`i at Manoa
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http://www2.hawaii.edu/~kjolly
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