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Stoup of Holy water

There is a 'stoup ' close by the entrance, a bowl of stone containing holy (blessed) water. It is intended to remind the churchgoer of the water of baptism, blessed and used to give life to those becoming members of the church.  The sign of the cross is made as a reminder  of  welcome into the family of God through baptism.

The stoup is a descendent of Jewish customs of ritual washing . These customs were carried into the earliest churches, which placed a fountain at the entrance for washing. Over time it was felt that size did not matter, since the washing was purely symbolic, and so the fountain became the stoup. The stoup in this sense was used to express the person's wish to be spiritually clean before entering the building.