By By Michael Pakaluk, The Catholic Thing - It used to be said that the priest “made” holy water; he did not simply bless it. The rite is still in the Roman Ritual. The priest makes holy water by adding exorcized salt to exorcized water... He adds salt in imitation of the prophet Elisha, who thus purified the waters of Jericho: “Thus says the LORD, ‘I have purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or unfruitfulness any longer.’”