Why Do We Mix Wine and Water in Communion?
A bright and observant young man at my church noticed that the pastor added a little water to the wine in the communion cup before it was consecrated. He was curious why the pastor did that. His question was answered; however, I decided to research it, provide a more detailed answer, and share it with you. If any of you have other questions that you would like me to address, please submit them on the Feedback page.
There are several references in the Bible to mixed wine. Some are thought to reflect the Jewish practice of mixing three parts water and one part wine, as described in the Mishnah and Talmud. Other references are believed to refer to mixing wine with stronger drinks. Mixing wine with water made the water safe to drink, made the wine less bitter, and reduced the chance of becoming drunk. While drinking wine is condoned in the Bible, drunkenness is not. The following two references are thought to refer to mixing wine and water.
The Way of Wisdom
PROVERBS 9 Wisdom has built her house;
she has hewn her seven pillars.
2 She has slaughtered her beasts; she
has mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
3 She has sent out her young women to call
from the highest places in the town,
4 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
To him who lacks sense she says,
5 “Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.
6 Leave your simple ways, and live,
and walk in the way of insight.”
Today, we mix water and wine in the communion cup for two reasons. First, it is tradition; many scholars believe that the “fruit of the vine” mentioned in the account of the Last Supper was wine mixed with water, as would have been the custom. At a Passover dinner, each person is supposed to drink four cups of wine that has been diluted with water, as described above. The four cups are the Cup of Sanctification, the Cup of Proclamation, the Cup of Blessing, and the Cup of Praise.
So, when Jesus said, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” Matt 26:27-28. Jesus was almost certainly holding a cup of wine mixed with water.
The Bible does not mention the formula for diluting wine, and we cannot be sure what ratio of wine and water was used in the Last Supper. However, it was likely that Jesus and His disciples would have honored the tradition.
The second reason we mix water and wine in communion is from John 19:34:
But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
So, Jesus shed blood and water on the cross for our salvation, so we consume wine and water in communion to represent the blood and water that Jesus shed for us.
Mixing water with wine for communion has been a church practice since the early days. Saint Justin Marty, in his First Apology (c. 150AD), wrote:
Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss. There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water; and he taking them, gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and offers thanks at considerable length for our being counted worthy to receive these things at His hands. And when he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all the people present express their assent by saying Amen. This word Amen answers in the Hebrew language to γενοιτο [so be it]. And when the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion.
Clement of Alexandria, in The Instructor, Book II, Chapter II – On Drinking (c 198AD ), wrote:
The natural, temperate, and necessary beverage, therefore, for the thirsty is water. This was the simple drink of sobriety, which, flowing from the smitten rock, was supplied by the Lord to the ancient Hebrews. It was most requisite that in their wanderings they should be temperate.
Afterwards the sacred vine produced the prophetic cluster. This was a sign to them, when trained from wandering to their rest; representing the great cluster the Word, bruised for us. For the blood of the grape—that is, the Word—desired to be mixed with water, as His blood is mingled with salvation.
And the blood of the Lord is twofold. For there is the blood of His flesh, by which we are redeemed from corruption; and the spiritual, that by which we are anointed. And to drink the blood of Jesus, is to become partaker of the Lord’s immortality; the Spirit being the energetic principle of the Word, as blood is of flesh.
Accordingly, as wine is blended with water, so is the Spirit with man. And the one, the mixture of wine and water, nourishes to faith; while the other, the Spirit, conducts to immortality.
And the mixture of both—of the water and of the Word—is called Eucharist, renowned and glorious grace; and they who by faith partake of it are sanctified both in body and soul. For the divine mixture, man, the Father’s will has mystically compounded by the Spirit and the Word. For, in truth, the spirit is joined to the soul, which is inspired by it; and the flesh, by reason of which the Word became flesh, to the Word.
St. Cyprian of Carthage (A.D. 250) wrote in his Epistle 62 about mixing water and wine in the communion cup. Some churches were using just water, and he rebuked that practice. He refers to Proverbs 9, shown above, and says:
He declares the wine mingled, that is, he foretells with prophetic voice the cup of the Lord mingled with water and wine, that it may appear that that was done in our Lord's passion which had been before predicted.
Thomas Aquinas also wrote about mixing wine and water in the communion cup in Summa Theologica:
Water ought to be mingled with the wine which is offered in this sacrament. First of all on account of its institution: for it is believed with probability that our Lord instituted this sacrament in wine tempered with water according to the custom of that country: hence it is written (Proverbs 9:5) St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica SIXTH ARTICLE [III, Q. 74, Art. 6]
On the topic of mixing wine and water in communion, Martin Luther, in his Formula of Mass and Communion For The Church at Wittenberg, wrote:
“During the Creed or after the Canon," let bread and wine be prepared in the customary way for consecration. Except that I am not yet fixed in my mind as to whether or not water should be mixed with the wine," although I rather incline to the preparation of pure wine,”
He continues on to discuss various points of view on this topic but says:
Nevertheless in opposition to liberty, I will not introduce a superstitious law. Christ will not care very much about this, nor are these matters worthy of contention.
Ultimately, he states his preference for pure wine but does not mandate that.
While some sources say that John Calvin was against mixing wine and water in communion, I have yet to find any writing of Calvin that says that.
In his writing titled “The True And Catholic Doctrine Of The Lord’s Supper,” Thomas Cranmer, the father of the English reformation, acknowledges that bread, wine and water are used in communion and refers to some of the same historical writings mentioned above. He does not give his own view on the use of wine mixed with water, but given that the Book of Common Prayer from 1549 mentions the practice, I conclude that he had no issue with it.
Than shall the minister take so muche Bread and Wine, as shalt suffice for the persons appoynted to receive the holy Communion, laiyng the breade upon the corporas, or els in the paten, or in some other comely thyng, prepared for that purpose. And puttyng ye wyne into the Chalice, or els in some faire or convenient cup, prepared for that use (if the Chalice will not serve), puttyng thereto a litle pure and cleane water: And settyng both the breade and wyne upon the Alter: then the Priest shall saye… Book of Common Prayer, 1549
Today, the Catholic Church requires mixing water and wine in the chalice before it is consecrated. The Church says the wine represents Jesus’ divinity and the water his humanity. The Eastern Orthodox church follows the same tradition. The Anglican Book of Common Prayer mentions that it is customary to add a little water to the wine before it is consecrated.
Other protestant churches have varying traditions. Lutheran churches today allow pure wine or wine mixed with water. Some Reformed (Calvinist) churches today mix wine and water in communion and others do not. Some Baptist churches do not believe we should consume alcohol, and they use grape juice instead of wine and water in communion.
Summary
It was common practice in Jesus’ time to mix wine and water. It was tradition to do so in a three-part water and one-part wine mixture for the wine consumed at Passover meals. Such a wine and water mixture was likely what Christ asked the disciples to drink at the Last Supper. It has been the church tradition since the early days to add water to the wine for communion. In addition, in John 19:34, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water came out. So, Jesus shed both blood and water at the crucifixion. For those reasons, many traditions and denominations add a little water to the wine in communion.
Douglas A. Leas, April 2025
Sources:
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Anglican Church of North America, 2019, “The Book of Common Prayer," Anglican Liturgy Press
Cranmer, Thomas, Et al. “The Book of Common Prayer of 1549”, retrieved 4/16/2025
Cranmer, Thomas, 1550, “The True And Catholic Doctrine Of The Lord’s Supper,”, retrieved 4/16/2025.
Aquinas, Thomas. (c. 1225–1274), Summa Theologica (Complete & Unabridged). Coyote Canyon Press. Kindle Edition.
Cyprian of Carthage (A.D. 250), Epistle 62 on the Sacrament of the Cup of the Lord, retrieved 4/13/2025.
Frye, Peggy, Catholic Answers,“Water Added to the Wine During Mass”, retrieved 4/13/2025.
Luther, Martin, 1523, Formula of Mass and Communion For The Church at Wittenberg from Works of Martin Luther, Muhlenberg Press, Philadelphia, 1932.
Roberts D.D., The Rev. Alexander, Donaldson LL.D., James, editors. The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume II, Fathers Of The Second Century: Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, And Clement Of Alexandria (Entire)