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Dear catholic.com visitors: This website from Catholic Answers, with all its many resources, is the world's largest source of explanations for Catholic beliefs and practices. A fully independent, lay-run, 501(c)(3) ministry that receives no funding from the institutional Church, we rely entirely on the generosity of everyday people like you to keep this website going with trustworthy , fresh, and relevant content. If everyone visiting this month gave just $1, catholic.com would be fully funded for an entire year. Do you find catholic.com helpful? Please make a gift today. SPECIAL PROMOTION FOR NEW MONTHLY DONATIONS! Thank you and God bless.

Why would a bishop wash his hands with lemon and bread during a confirmation Mass?

Question:

During the sacrament of confirmation, when a bishop is officiating, some bishops wash their hands with lemon and bread in a bowl filled with water. Why?

Answer:

The lemon cuts the oil quite effectively and the bread is used to dry the hands. It sounds primitive to us. But in the early days of the Church these items were available in most places. Today we have modern means of cleaning the hands, but this reminds us that the Church has been around a long, long time.

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