爲防流感 意大利人發明自動聖水機

An Italian inventor has combined faith and ingenuity to come up with a way to keep church traditions alive for the faithful without the fear of contracting swine flu -- an electronic holy water dispenser.

Theterracotta dispenser, used in the northern town of Fornaci di Briosco, functions like an automatic soap dispenser in public washrooms -- a churchgoer waves his or her hand under a sensor and the machine spurts out holy water.

"It has been a bit of a novelty. People initially were a bit shocked by this technological innovation but then they welcomed it with great enthusiasm and joy. The members of this parish have got used to it," said Father Pierangelo Motta.

Catholics entering and leaving churches usually dip their hands into fonts full of holy water -- which has been blessed by a priest -- and make the sign of the cross.

But fear of contracting the H1N1 virus has led many in Italy -- where some 15 people have died of swine flu -- not to dip their hands in the communal water font.

"It's great," said worshipper Marta Caimm as she entered the church. "Thanks to this we are not worried about catching swine flu. It is the right thing for the times," she said.

Luciano Marabese, who invented the dispenser, said he did so out of concern that fear of swine flu was eroding traditions.

And he is now blessing himself all the way to the bank.

"After all the news that some churches, like Milan's cathedral, were suspending the use of holy water fonts as a measure against swine flu, demands for my invention shot to the stars. I have received orders from all over the world," he said.

爲了既保證教堂傳統的延續，同時又讓人們免去感染甲型流感的擔憂，意大利一位發明家發明了一種“自動聖水機”，實現了信仰和創造性的完美結合。

這種用陶瓦材料製成的自動聖水機最先在意大利北部城鎮布里歐斯科•佛納西使用，其功能類似於公共洗手間裏的自動給皁機，教徒只需將手放在在感應器下來回動動，機器就會噴出聖水。

皮埃朗傑羅•摩塔神父說：“這是個新玩意。一開始，人們對這種科技創新還感到有點震驚，但後來大家都十分欣然地接受了。現在這個教區的教徒們都已經習慣使用它了。”

做禮拜的天主教徒在進入和離開教堂時，通常要用手蘸一下聖水盤中由神父祝聖過的聖水，然後劃十字。

但現在由於擔心感染甲流病毒，很多人都不去蘸公共聖水盤裏的聖水了。意大利已有15人死於甲型流感。

前來做禮拜的瑪塔•卡伊姆在進入教堂時說：“這東西很棒，多虧有了它，我們纔不用擔心感染甲流。它來的正是時候。”

發明自動聖水機的魯契亞諾•馬拉畢斯說，他發明聖水機是因爲擔心對甲流的恐懼會影響傳統。

而如今他自己也是財路大開。

他說：“之前，包括米蘭大教堂在內的一些教堂爲預防豬流感都採取了暫停使用聖水盤的措施，現在我發明的自動聖水機需求量大增。我已經收到了來自世界各地的訂單。”

Vocabulary:

contract: to acquire or incur 得（病）（He contracted a cold. 他得了感冒。）

terracotta: a hard unglazed brownish-red earthenware, or the clay from which it is made 赤陶

font:a receptacle for holy water 聖水器