Holy Water Should Not Be Removed During Lent

Q: Should holy water be removed from the holy water fonts during Lent?

A: No.

Previously, the choice would rest up each bishop as to whether or not holy water would be removed from holy water fonts. However, the Vatican has recently issued a decree on this matter. Specifically, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has recently addressed this question and issued a negative response:

"1. The liturgical legislation in force does not foresee this innovation, which in addition to being praeter legem [beyond the law] is contrary to a balanced understanding of the season of Lent, which though truly being a season of penance, is also a season rich in the symbolism of water and baptism, constantly evoked in liturgical texts.

"2. The encouragement of the Church that the faithful avail themselves frequently of the [sic] of her sacraments and sacramentals is to be understood to apply also to the season of Lent. The "fast" and "abstinence" which the faithful embrace in this season does not extend to abstaining from the sacraments or sacramentals of the Church. The practice of the Church has been to empty the Holy Water fonts on the days of the Sacred Triduum in preparation of the blessing of the water at the Easter Vigil, and it corresponds to those days on which the Eucharist is not celebrated (i.e., Good Friday and Holy Saturday)."

Source: Catholics United for the Faith