A Detroit priest has found unlikely viral fame after he used a squirt gun to bless drive-thru churchgoers with Holy water at a socially-distanced Easter service.
Holy water is of ritualistic importance in the Catholic church, and during Holy Week, it is used by priests when their congregation renews their Baptismal vows at Easter.
Another priest recently found online fame after accidentally turning on face filters during an online mass:Father Tim Pelc, however, had to get his thinking cap on this Easter when he decided to conduct a socially-distanced service that adhered to church traditions.
Instead of spraying parishioners with Holy water using a liturgical implement, he decided that a squirt gun would be a perfect, socially-distanced alternative.
Now, pictures of the event taken by parishioner Larry Peplin have gone viral after they first were posted by St. Ambrose Parish on Facebook in April.
And like many great images to grace the internet with their divine presence, the pictures have even inspired a photoshop battle on Reddit.
The popularity of the images has pleased Father Pelc, 70, who has been a priest at his current Detroit parish for 30 years and prides himself on his "pretty wacky mind and pretty accepting congregation."
In an interview with Buzzfeed News, Pelc said: "The original idea was to do something for the kids of the parish. They were about ready to have an Easter unlike any of their past, so I thought, what can we still do that would observe all the protocols of social distancing?"
After coming up with the idea to use a squirt gun, Father Pelc asked a friend who is an emergency room doctor if it was safe to do so, and once he got the all-clear, he was good to go.
"He said, 'not only is this safe, this is fun,' and he came with his kids," Pelc said. "He provided me with all the personal protection stuff that I needed. The sun was out, we had a nice turnout. It was a way of continuing an ancient custom, and people seemed to enjoy it."
"It was a good news story and people were in the mood for something like that," Pelc said.
"It was big in Ukraine, and the Germans are funny, that led to a whole sub discussion about the types of water pistols," he added. "It even had two hits in the Vatican, which sort of concerned me but I haven’t heard anything yet."
Christine Busque, the manager of the church's Facebook page, posted the original photos and she said that she's delighted that so many people around the world are now appreciating Father Pelc's thoughtfulness and creativity.
"People wanted to have a bright side to the things that are happening in the world right now," Busque said. "They saw that, and I think they saw that he cared about his parishioners enough to want to keep his traditions alive but work [within] the CDC guidelines of being safe."
Pelc said that he believes the photographs have been a hit because they provide a bit of amusement during what is a difficult time for everyone.
"I’m not objecting to it, this whole idea of combating evil is a good one," Pelc said. "When Jesus dies he doesn’t just lay around doing nothing, he goes down to hell and kicks the doors in, he really wrestles with evil. We all want to believe that the devil is not the most powerful force on the earth and neither is COVID-19."
Pelc said that his new-found fame as a meme is taking some getting used to and said that he is glad he is wearing a mask in the images.
"If I didn't have a mask on in these photos I probably wouldn't be as happy," Pelc said. "But I'm perfectly happy being the masked avenger here."
