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A Roman Catholic priest has gone viral for his attempt at keeping an ancient tradition alive while social distancing at the height of Holy Week and the coronavirus pandemic.
The Rev. Timothy Pelc, a priest of 30 years at St. Ambrose Church in Grosse Pointe Park, Mich., wore church vestments, a mask and gloves — and prayerfully sprayed holy water from a squirt gun to bless Easter baskets.
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"Yes, that's Fr. Tim using a squirt gun full of Holy Water!" St. Ambrose Parish wrote on Facebook April 12, and the images, taken by parishioner Larry Peplin, have gone viral and sparked a meme Photoshop battle on Reddit.
The retouched images show Pelc, who prides himself on having a "pretty wacky mind and pretty accepting congregation," amid the fires of hell surrounded by demons, aiding firefighters and performing an exorcism.
The issue also went viral on Twitter, where one user shared the image with the caption: "A Priest giving social distance blessings with a squirt pistol and what, I'm assuming, is Holy water. 2020 folks."
"It's an internet law: once a post or photo about you goes viral, you must end up in a meme," the parish wrote in a post on Friday with a meme titled, "The Good, The Bad and the Holy Spirit."
The 70-year-old priest has largely avoided social media until now.
"It was a good news story and people were in the mood for something like that," he told BuzzFeed News. "It was big in Ukraine, and the Germans are funny, that led to a whole sub discussion about the types of water pistols. It even had two hits in the Vatican, which sort of concerned me but I haven’t heard anything yet."
Before he armed himself with a squirt gun, Pelc reportedly ran the idea by his friend who works as an emergency room doctor in Detroit to make sure it was safe.
In this Saturday, April 11, 2020 file photo, Rev. Timothy Pelc blesses Easter baskets outside St. Ambrose Church in Grosse Pointe Park, Mich. (Natalie White via AP)
And although the church likes to have fun, they've also taken the outbreak seriously.
Michigan has been hit hard by the coronavirus, with at least 4,891 deaths, behind New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. St. Ambrose Church has tied a blue ribbon on trees for every death as a memorial.
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"Let us pray for the health care workers and first responders," the church wrote. "Let us pray for all those who selflessly work at essential businesses that keep us safe, fed, and healthy. Let us pray for those who are ill with the Coronavirus, for their healing and comfort and strength and peace for their families. Let us also pray for those who have died because of the virus."
St. Ambrose, like many churches around the country, is preparing to reopen in some capacity to in-person services once again.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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