Parishioners with St. Anne Church used a crop duster plane to sprinkle holy water all over the community.
Parishioners in Cow Island had their small Vermillion Parish community blessed Sunday by 100 gallons of holy water dispersed from a crop-dusting plane courtesy of St. Anne Catholic Church.
St. Anne Reverend Matthew Barzare says the idea came from a congregant who wanted to pull the community together with a millennia-old tradition.
“There is a rich tradition in our church to have the priest bless your fields in preparation for harvest time, asking God’s blessings and protection, for a good harvest,” said Barzare.
Cow Island is an unincorporated territory about 40 miles south of Lafayette and is within the Lafayette Archdiocese.
The plane blessed the church, the school, the grocery store, and other prominent community landmarks along with crop fields. Barzare says the plane’s owner usually does pesticide spraying but cleaned out the tank beforehand.
“It was frightening at first when you think about it, it sprays pesticides on the sugar cane and rice, but it was a perfect time for them because they are not spraying pesticides,” said Barzare.
The water was provided by the local community and the plane’s operator, and then blessed by Barzare.
The blessing has been a hit on social media, pulling in hundreds of shares, and inspiring other agricultural communities to ask their local church to do the same.
“I know another church parish not too far from me already contacted the same pilot to see if maybe he could do it, so maybe there could be some extra business for the pilot there,” Barzare said with a laugh.
The Reverend adds they plan on making this an annual event, and hopefully utilizing the plane’s full 300 gallon capacity in the future.
