Automatic Holy Water Dispenser
November 15, 2009, 10:38 pm
Posted by David Gibson
They actually look pretty nice–made in Italy, no surprise:
The terracotta dispenser, used in the northern town of Fornaci di Briosco, functions like an automatic soap dispenser in public washrooms — a churchgoer waves his or her hand under a sensor and the machine spurts out holy water.
“It has been a bit of a novelty. People initially were a bit shocked by this technological innovation but then they welcomed it with great enthusiasm and joy. The members of this parish have got used to it,” said Father Pierangelo Motta.
H/T: RNS blog.
Another tiny step backwards.
I have friends who were wondering aloud about the canonical possibility of blessing hand sanitizer.
All these isolating steps sadden me. Doesn’t anyone see that fear is taking away our human contact with anyone but our intimates? What does that do to our sense as the Body of Christ? as the people who welcomes the stranger, the marginalized, and the ones who are not welcome elsewhere? I fear that we will never get rid of all the ways we are making ourselves into “bubble boys” at our worship — flu is never going to go away.
As I ministered the cup at yesterday’s Mass, I felt the community of Jesus in the many who shared. I didn’t wish that just a few more people would come so there wouldn’t be extra for me to consume, out of fear of disease.
Gives a whole new meaning to “Asperges me…”
While I share Terri’s general concern, I don’t think it applies in this instance. Blessing one’s self with holy water on entering or leaving a church is, and always has been, an individual devotional practice. I find it much more troubling when the people are urged to forgo the sign of peace or the common cup, which are strong liturgical signs of communion by nature.
I heard that people used to, after blessing themselves with holy water, touch the tip of the fingers of the person behind them so as to transfer the leftover wetness from the tip of their own fingers. That person then didn’t need to dip their own fingertips in the fountain.
I don’t think being a good Catholic requires anyone to pretend that germs and infectious diseases don’t exist.
There is apparently enough evidence that communion cups present no danger, so restricting their use might be overcautious. (I am relatively sure the microbiological studies have been done with unconsecrated communion wine, so we’re not talking miracles here.) But many if not most cases of the flu are caught by getting the virus on your hands and then putting your fingers in your mouth or touching your nose or eyes. A holy water fount would seem to be an ideal way to spread the flu virus. It’s just foolishness not to take this into account during flu season.
I’m with David. I’ve taken care of my share of sick and dying people this past year, and I’m happy to touch them as care requires.
In fact, that’s exactly why I wash my hands assiduously, get vaccinated, and avoid fonts and hand-holding at Mass–I really don’t need to drag the flu back to my dad who’s in hospice care or my mother who’s doing the primary care for him.
Before you condemn everyone who seems to be being overly fussy about germs, consider whether they live with or are caring for someone in a high risk category.
I remember the time when people with HIV/AIDS were virtually abandoned by any care givers. Everyone was unsure how the virus was transmitted, so “hands off” was the watchword of the day. Many hospitalized people suffered immensely because their food was left on the floor outside of the doors to their rooms. They were not bathed adequately nor often. It was hard to get someone to clean them after incontinence. Those who did care came dressed as if they were entering a room contaminated by radiation.
My parish lived through the 1980s and 1990s with a lot of people who were caregivers and those who had the virus sharing the pews with others. We still passed the peace and held hands during the Our Father.
Common sense needs to prevail in this swine flu “scare” as well. BTW, my parish still passes the peace, many with a kiss on the lips or cheeks, and still holds hands during the Our Father. Just this past weekend the Archdiocese of SF finally implemented a policy of no wine during communion, discouraged (but did not discontinue) receiving the host on the tongue, and suggested a truly Catholic frozen-chosen nod during the peace and no touching during the Our Father. As with so many missives From On High, we chose to ignore these recommendations. After dealing with HIV/AIDS for so many years, this little tempest in a teapot seems hardly worth the recommended efforts.
Now one might say that if the water is really holy then there is no problem. But that is magical thinking, of course……..
I attempted to replace the doorside holy water with the Rite of Sprinkling at each Mass. You would have thought that I encouraged the kicking of kittens! Cleaning the water dishes after each Mass serves a good purpose. I am glad that the dishes are easily removable so they can be easily cleaned.