Dec 31, 2006 12:49 am US/Pacific
San Joaquin County Man Sells Bottled 'Holy Water'
Bottles Of Blessed Water Sell For $.99 Each
by Dennis Shanahan
LINDEN, Calif. (CBS13) ―
Bottled water is big business. But a new product is taking the trend to a new...even heavenly level; it's Holy Drinking Water, filtered and bottled in the San Joaquin Valley.
Holy water is something we typically associated with the hallowed sanctuary of a church, but a Linden man recently decided to bottle the blessings for drinking.
One of the first things you see when you walk into Rinaldi's Market in Linden is a display of what looks like ordinary bottled water. Then you look at the label. At first glance, some people are not quite sure what to think.
Brian Germann of Linden, got this idea on June 6, 2006 -- yes, 6-6-6. He and his niece were thinking, "what if you could drink holy water as a defense against evil?" It could also serve as a daily reminder for people.
"You know, that they have choices in life and so forth," said Germann.
So he found a company in Stockton willing to do the bottling and signed on a few clergymen who agreed to perform the blessing, though he won't say what denominations they're from.
And then there's the warning to sinners printed on the label.
"If you are a sinner or evil in nature, this product may cause burning, intense heat and oral irritations," said Germann.
The warning was part clever marketing, part covering his bases.
Once they've had a chance to think about it, we found people have a wide variety of reactions to Germann's idea -- some supportive, and some not so supportive.
It'll soon be for sale at www.holydrinkingwater.info and any supermarket willing to stock it.
"Absolutely. I'd like to get it nationwide," said Germann.
Germann says this water is not to be confused with the actual holy water used, say, in the Catholic Church. This water is only blessed after it has already been bottled as drinking water.
Right now, you can only buy Holy Drinking Water at Rinaldi's market in Linden.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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