While many relate Christmas with decorations, lights, and family dinners, the holiday is much more than that. In its core, Christmas is a holy time when God longs to get close to every human soul. Saint Padre Pio beautifully crystallized this reality when he told us that the true meaning of Christmas is found in a heart that has been purified.

While preparing our homes is necessary, preparing our souls is more so. For Padre Pio there was a straightforward, modest, within-reach means to expose ourselves to God’s grace prior to the coming of Christ: the mindful and faithful use of holy water.

The spiritual meaning of holy water

Holy water is neither symbolic folklore nor superstition. Rooted deeply in Christian practice it has been for many centuries an expression of spiritual renewal and an indicator of spiritual vitality, divine safeguarding and purification. Saint Padre Pio also considers it to be a powerful spiritual help when prayed over and received with genuine faith.

Through holy water, the Christian is reminded of baptism, of Christ’s victory over sin and the devil, and of the Light of God shining in the darkness. Pio noted that evil flees from holy water because it is a witness to its own final defeat. In the days before we celebrate Christmas—the mystery of God drawing near to us as human beings is renewed—what we do to prepare our souls matters as much as what we do to prepare our homes.

First practice: Blessing the entrance of the home

Padre Pio believed that what enters a home also enters the hearts of those who reside there. Therefore he advised to bless the main entrance door before Christmas as a spiritual safeguarding.

A simple way to do this: Moisten your fingers with a bit of holy water. Sign your hands with the sign of the cross in the doorjam. In silence or with a brief prayer, invite Jesus that only His peace and presence dwell in your home.

The power of this ritual has nothing to do with how many doors are blessed but rather how blessed the act is in terms of your personal faith.

Second practice: Cleansing the heart within

For many, the Christmas season arrives mixed with exhaustion, inner tension, worry, sorrow, or old wounds that have never fully healed. These burdens can cause one’s heart to grow dim, and it can make it more difficult to feel the presence of God.

Saint Padre Pio said that holy water is not confined to the material but reaches the soul and speaks to it.

A simple practice: Lightly place a drop of holy water on your forehead and your chest. Make the sign of a cross and pray to God for your peace of mind and the healing of your heart.

That gesture is a way of humility and trust, to say, “I do not know everything, there are loads I have to carry that I can’t handle on my own, and I’m just going to put that down for a moment, and wait for God’s grace and light to help me with those burdens.”

Many people witness feeling a quiet relief after performing this ritual.

Third practice: Blessing shared family spaces

Families never torn apart because of a single moment. Instead, it is the effect of tiny daily stresses such as barbed comments, extended silence, tiredness that’s not talked about. After a while, it seems, these feelings settle over the very places in which ordinary life takes place.

On account of this, Saint Padre Pio recommended the blessing of the homes of the family members (and more so before Christmas), the dining room, the living room, or any other room where the family gathers in the home.

A quick and easy way to do this: Lightly splash these areas with holy water. Say a silent prayer for peace, for harmony, for healing in the family. It might not fix everything in an instant but it’s a gentle invitation to grace to work on things in its own time, making space for forgiveness and reconnection.