Asperges

It is performed by the celebrant priest wearing a cope of the liturgical color of the day; the chasuble is never worn for the Asperges, or any other ceremony not strictly part of the Mass, in the traditional rite.

After intoning the antiphon the priest recites the psalm Miserere or Confitemini, according to the season, sprinkling first the front and platform of the altar, then himself, next the ministers and choir, and lastly the congregation, usually walking through the main part of the church, though he need not go beyond the gate of the sanctuary or choir.

The ceremony has been in use at least from the tenth century, growing out of the custom of early antiquity of blessing water for the faithful on Sundays.

"On Sundays, especially in Eastertide, the blessing of holy water and sprinkling with it may be carried out in memory of baptism.

The Roman Missal proposes several, based on the following verses of Scripture: But other suitable hymns are permitted.

Some monasteries and churches have the tradition of blessing holy water and sprinkling on the first day of each month.

The Russian Orthodox will use a whisk made of cotton, straw or hair from which the holy water is flung.

He then stands next to the holy water font holding a blessing cross in his left hand and the aspergillum in his right.

In Lutheranism, asperges occurs as a part of the Divine Service on Easter Sunday as a remembrance of baptism.