Posted on 09/17/2013 11:55:41 AM PDT by NYer
ABC News has this breaking story. Holy water in baptismal fonts may not be safe to drink. I know, right? Who knew?
Researchers at the Institute of Hygiene and Applied Immunology at the Medical University of Vienna tested water from 21 springs in Austria and 18 fonts in Vienna and found samples contained up to 62 million bacteria per milliliter of water, none of it safe to drink.They really think we're idiots, don't they? I mean stone cold idiots.
Tests indicated 86 percent of the holy water, commonly used in baptism ceremonies and to wet congregants' lips, was infected with common bacteria found in fecal matter such as E. coli, enterococci and Campylobacter, which can lead to diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain, and fever.
Nitrates, commonly found in fertilizer from farms, were also identified in the water. If ingested, water containing nitrates over the maximum contaminant level could cause serious illness, especially in infants younger than 6 months, which could lead to death if untreated, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"We need to warn people against drinking from these sources," said Dr Alexander Kirschner, study researcher and microbiologist at the Medical University of Vienna.
I notice there's no mention of levels or ppms . . . there's a certain amount of bacteria that occurs naturally in the air and on every surface, not to mention on people.
So long as the sexton does his job and cleans and refills the font regularly, this doesn't look much like Public Health Issue No. 1.
It's just Attack the Obvious Christians No. 1 for this week . . . . and those of you who are standing on the sidelines cheering against those nasty Papists: you're next. The only reason they're after us is that (1) we don't support their agenda; and (2) if they can destroy us, the smaller protestant sects will be easy to pick off, one by one.
"They came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up." - Martin Niemöller, Lutheran pastor
Fail!
Baptismal water comes in from the same pipe that all the rest of the water does. and it usually has a high Cl2 residual.
No danger if people take regular showers.
Years ago it was common practice to keep a candle and Holy water in the house in case someone needed last rites. You would meet the priest at the door with these and he would perform the sacrament.
My wife who was about 5 at the time and her brother who was around 8 found the container and dared each other to taste it. I am certain you can guess the rest.
Like I said, never heard of a death!
EEEWWWW
Unclear on the concept. That is NOT what you are supposed to do with the water. Must be all of their 3rd world immigrants.
With a bit of vodka, a dirty martini
Brain-eating" amoeba found in St. Bernard Parish water supply following death
Never mind me!! Its way past my bed time.
Nite all.
Since it is not Catholic practice to drink holy water, they are issuing a pseudo-news-report expressing pseudo-concern over a pseudo-problem.
It's like "Public alert! Beware, hearing aid batteries! NOT to be taken internally!"
Thank God.
Of course you have to. You're friends. That's known as an ad-hominem response. First it's nobody drinks it or baptismal font. Then it's yeah some people do drink holy water and baptismal font. Then it's nobody gets sick or dies from it. Then it's some people got sick but it's probably not from that. Then it's some people died but they were going to die anyway so let's all have a BIG lol.
First: Tsk. You made that one up. Big BOOOOO---ooooo.
Second: defending someone's post by name is not ad hominem. Ad hominem means attacking, not the proposition being disputed, but the character or personal distinctives of some individual associated with the dispute. This I did not do.
Third, Catholics do not drink holy water at all; Orthodox do not drink holy water from a baptismal font, but fill their bottles from a covered canister or tank that has a faucet or stoup.
Next up:
If it’s a serif font it’s all right.
I'll tell you one thing. I'm older than you are, Arthur, and I have never seen any of this done. You sure these people aren't into the ol' vodou?
Hwe said they put in a little bottle (from the spigot on the tank) and take it home and drink it.
we’ll what do you expect, many people don’t wash their hands after they sneeze in them, blow their noses and don’t wash and don’t wash when they go to the restroom...so hands are full of germs and when you have hundreds of people putting their hands in a small amount of water there are sure to be plenty of germs. It’s one of the reasons why I try to get a little drop on a finger to bless myself...
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