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Russian Priests Drop Holy Water from Airplane to Cure Townspeople of Alcoholism

Drastic times call for drastic measures, and a group of priests from the Russian city of Tver have just the thing to solve a lot of problems: holy water. Dropped from about 300 meters from an airplane flying over the city.
Single-engine Antonov An-2 aircraft used by priests to drop holy water on Tver, in Russia 11 photos
Photo: YouTube / Ulya Ostrovskaya
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Tver is situated about 200 km from Moscow and has a population of over 400,000. We have no idea of the kind of social issues plaguing it but whatever they are, they must be serious if the priests decided to use an airplane to drop holy water onto the people. It happened this week and was an initiative by the Metropolitan Savva of Tver and Kashinsky and church representative Father Alexander Goryachev, Moscow Times reports.

According to the publication, the event coincided with the All-Russian Sobriety Day, which is apparently a real thing. It was meant to cure “drunkenness and fornication,” among other contemporary evils and required no more and no less than 70 liters of holy water. Also on board the plane were a couple (man and woman) who stood as living proof that holy water and prayer worked in terms of miraculously “curing” alcoholism.

The priests arrived in an impeccable Toyota and boarded the light Antonov An-2 aircraft, which is a utility / agricultural airplane built in Mother Russia by Antonov Design Bureau since 1946. Once up in the air, at about 200-300 meters, prayers started and Metropolitan Savva of Tver and Kashinsky, secured by a harness, started dropping the holy water from the sky.

Speaking to the reporters on site, both clergymen laughed off criticism of their initiative.

“Any disease is from a virus, and a virus is a demon. Therefore, any disease is primarily a spiritual disease,” Goryachev said.

“What is the joke? That we’re trying to help people get rid of diseases? We promote stopping alcohol consumption, drugs and fornication – is this laughable?” Goryachev added. “Let them laugh and we will do our job.”

In June this year, priests in Buenaventura, Columbia, performed a similar ritual – this time using a National Army helicopter – in hopes it would bring an end to the wave of crimes. Local media reported the upcoming event as a planned “exorcism,” but the church denied it, saying it was way of blessing the city and fortifying it against evil.

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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