Louisiana Town Sprinkled with Holy Water for Christmas

An entire town in Louisiana got a spiritual blessing in time for Christmas, thanks to gallons of holy water and an airplane.

The town of Cow Island, Louisiana, and some neighboring farms got sprinkled with 100 gallons of holy water right before Christmas, the Diocese of Lafayette announced Sunday.

Cow Island is a town 32 miles away from Lafayette.

L’Eryn Detraz, a native of Cow Island and missionary currently stationed in Ohio, came up with the idea for the community-wide blessing, according to the Roman Catholic diocese.

Parishioners of St. Anne Church donated bottled water from their homes to be blessed by a priest before the water was put on a plane and distributed by a plane used to water crops.

“We can bless more area in a shorter amount of time,” Rev. Matthew Barzare of St. Anne Church in Cow Island, the priest who blessed the water, told NPR.

The pilot had been instructed to sprinkle some water over certain parts of the community, including schools, churches, grocery stores, and other community gathering places.

“A happy and blessed Christmas to everyone from St. Anne Church and parishioners!” the diocese said in the statement.