Catholic Church Used Crop Duster To Spray Holy Water Over Louisiana Town

[CalMeacham]

That’s the headline:

Catholic Church Used Crop Duster To Spray Holy Water Over Louisiana Town

A Louisiana Catholic church has come up with a novel way of blessing locals.

St. Anne Church in Abbeville sprayed 100 gallons of holy water over the community on Saturday with the help of a tiny, low-flying plane traditionally used to spray pesticides on farms.

Rev. Matthew Barzare, the parish’s young priest, told NPR that this was the largest amount of water he had ever blessed.

“I’ve blessed some buckets for people and such, but never that much water,” the priest said.

…

…

L’Eryn Detraz, a Catholic missionary who is a native of the area, came up with the idea of distributing holy water through a crop duster, the Diocese of Lafayette said in a Facebook post.

Barzare told The Guardian that he saw the holy water distribution as a way of bringing his rural parish together during the holidays. He also pointed out that Catholic priests have a long tradition of blessing farmers’ fields during Ember Days, which occur at the beginning of every season.

“My area that I have to cover is a good 30 minutes to the next church, and so by plane, we realized, it might be the easiest way to sprinkle people’s fields, rather than me going in a car to different locations,” he told NPR.

Barzare told The Guardian that the event was so popular with his church that he hopes to repeat it next year.

“We can bless a larger area with 300 gallons of water than we can with 100,” he said.

Sounds like a great way to take out large numbers of vampires at once, too!

[OldGuy]

Could a non-Catholic get anywhere by objecting to being “baptized” without his consent?

[Senegoid]

Sounds right up there with the Mormons baptizing non-Mormons posthumously, which some of their descendants found objectionable.

If you spray a field with holy water, will the corn grown there be holy? Will consumers be saved by eating it?

Does the airplane need to be blessed too, or will any airplane do? What about the pilot?

What about the water, for that matter? I always thought that the best holy water, indeed the only truly holy water, had to come from the Jordan River.

[filmore]

@OldGuy

Could a non-Catholic get anywhere by objecting to being “baptized” without his consent?

It would be interesting to see how the locals reacted to getting sprayed by water blessed by a Imam.

[Gatopescado]

I wonder how much pesticide was left in the tank and lines and such?

[Inigo_Montoya]

I peed in the holy water

[CalMeacham]

@Senegoid

Sounds right up there with the Mormons baptizing non-Mormons posthumously, which some of their descendants found objectionable.

If you spray a field with holy water, will the corn grown there be holy? Will consumers be saved by eating it?

Does the airplane need to be blessed too, or will any airplane do? What about the pilot?

What about the water, for that matter? I always thought that the best holy water, indeed the only truly holy water, had to come from the Jordan River.

You ain’t Catholic, or else you’d know about the rituals used:

https://flockofnations.com/blessing-for-salt-and-holy-water/

Sometimes they put in salt and/or holy oil and/or the Paschal Candle. I think sometimes all it requires is a priest saying a prayer over it. But Holy Water need not come from the Jordan, or Lourdes, or such sites. If it did, there’d be a lot less of it, and it’d cost more.

[Procrustus]

@CalMeacham

But Holy Water need not come from the Jordan, or Lourdes, or such sites. If it did, there’d be a lot less of it, and it’d cost more.

Price is no issue. Get the best!

[Slash1972]

Why doesn’t the Priest bless the Gulf of Mexico? Think of all the people saved!

[running_coach]

Holy forced conversion, Batman!!!

SPLASH!

DRIP!

SEEP!

SQUIRT!

[Tatterdemalion]

@Gatopescado

I wonder how much pesticide was left in the tank and lines and such?

That was my first thought also. I got sprayed by a crop duster once. I was riding my bicycle on the road by the field being sprayed. I was sick for a week.

It was the 80’s and I was young. Now I’d probably sue.

[nelliebly]

I’m not sure why anyone would get in a snit about this. From the article, it sounds like the water wasn’t sprayed over the entire community but only over the farms of parishioners who’ve requested a traditional blessing of their fields. It’s not a baptism, and nobody believes it’d turn anyone Catholic.

If you don’t believe in holy water, the story comes down to “water was sprayed on the fields of Catholic farmers.” And very little water per field, since the average Louisiana farm is 370 acres.

[muldoonthief]

@nelliebly

I’m not sure why anyone would get in a snit about this. From the article, it sounds like the water wasn’t sprayed over the entire community but only over the farms of parishioners who’ve requested a traditional blessing of their fields. It’s not a baptism, and nobody believes it’d turn anyone Catholic.

If you don’t believe in holy water, the story comes down to “water was sprayed on the fields of Catholic farmers.” And very little water per field, since the average Louisiana farm is 370 acres.

From the article:

Barzare said he asked the pilot to focus on spraying locations where people gathered, such as grocery stores, schools and churches.

So yeah, unless the town is 100% Catholic, people probably got spayed against their will. I’d file a complaint with the FAA if I lived there.

[Rocketeer]

I can’t work up much outrage over this; I think the priest was clever in adapting modern tools to an old ritual.

[Darren_Garrison]

@Senegoid

If you spray a field with holy water, will the corn grown there be holy? Will consumers be saved by eating it?

The pastures will be covered with holy shit.

@Senegoid

Does the airplane need to be blessed too, or will any airplane do? What about the pilot?

God is his copilot.

[kenobi_65]

@OldGuy

Could a non-Catholic get anywhere by objecting to being “baptized” without his consent?

I doubt it’d get very far if they tried to pursue an objection legally. No, no one got “baptized” by the spraying; they may have come into contact with blessed water, but that’s it.

Getting sprinkled by holy water, alone, doesn’t constitute a baptism in the eyes of the Catholic Church. If one feels that one’s rights or personal sovereignty have been violated by it, that’s their right to feel that way, of course.

[monstro]

@Gatopescado

I wonder how much pesticide was left in the tank and lines and such?

That’s what I want to know too. Pesticides are no joke.

[enipla]

If in a town, I’d think it was a terrorist attack. Possibly anthrax or something.

If I knew beforehand, I wouldn’t really care except to have it reinforce my disdain towards organized religion. Hocus Pocus is best left to Penn and Teller.

[D_Anconia]

@muldoonthief

So yeah, unless the town is 100% Catholic, people probably got spayed against their will. I’d file a complaint with the FAA if I lived there.

That sounds like quite an overreaction.

[Slash1972]

Not really. I’m sure you’d be pissed if you could no longer have children.