The sprinkling of holy water is a strong symbol in the Catholic faith, and it’s easily one of the most recognizable practices as well. As one priest would see it, holy water is a vital part of Catholicism and faith in general. So much so, he took this blessing to a new extent and it wasn’t something that even the most devoted had expected.
Reverend Matthew Barzare of St. Anne Church in the rural Louisiana community of Cow Island took one parishioner’s suggestion to heart by actually spraying 100 gallons of holy water from a plane. As Rev. Barzare’s parish was large, he had decided to use a crop-dusting plane to complete the feat that has never been done before.
The holy water was sprayed onto the surrounding towns and farms in the run-up to Christmas according to the Diocese of Lafayette. It was an idea that came from none other than parishioner L’Eryn Detraz who’s a resident of Cow Island and is currently a missionary in Ohio. Barzare hopes that this could be an annual event. He even plans on ramping up the amount of holy water used from 100 gallons to 300 gallons.
The idea came from a local tradition in which the fields of the community are blessed during harvest season. In Rev. Barzare’s new tradition, locals carried their own water to an airstrip where the crop dusting plane was placed. Rev. Barazare then blessed the water before it was loaded into the aircraft.
With the holy water loaded, the crop dusting plane took off and made its way atop the farms and crops of the local community. The holy water is expected to not only protect the lands from pests, but it is also expected to bring a bountiful harvest for farmers in the future. At least that’s what everyone is expecting.
The local government wasn’t opposed to the plan in any way. Seeing that there is a huge turnout for support during Rev. Barzare’s blessing ceremony, many are expecting that the local government will support the parish and their endeavors by providing better equipment and possibly more planes.
Though out of the ordinary, the locals believe that Barzare’s bizarre method will work when it comes to their crops and harvest the coming year. As the first blessing of the crops was a success, we can expect an even bigger event to happen by the end of 2020.
