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Italian answer to swine flu--automatic holy water dispensers
Priests have been noticing that worshipers are reluctant to put their hands in the font containing holy water for fear of catching swine flu. About thirty people have died in Italy from the disease and people are a bit jittery about sharing the same water as hundreds of strangers, however holy it might be.
Some churches have even closed their communal fonts, like Milan's cathedral, pictured here.
When inventor Luciano Marabese saw what was happening, he got to work. He invented an automatic dispenser that works along the same lines as a soap dispenser in a public bathroom, but has the look of a traditional font. The faithful put their hands under the dispenser where an infrared detector senses them and squirts out some holy water. There's a video of the dispenser in action here.
Now if we can only get people to wash their hands after going to the bathroom. . .
Filed under: Europe, Italy, News, Travel Health
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
APS Nov 12th 2009 12:51PM
http://www.smith.edu/hsc/museum/ancient_inventions/hsc18b.htm
actually, an automatic holy water dispenser isn't so new, is it?
Sean McLachlan Nov 12th 2009 12:52PM
Cool! The ancient Greeks must have been immune to swine flu. Thanks for the link!