Holy Water Seized by Airport Security

Even holy water must be in a 3-ounce container sealed in a 1-quart plastic bag. Catholic pilgrims on the recently inaugurated Mistral Air found this rule out the hard way, when vials of holy water collected at Lourdes were taken by airport security. The company’s president admitted that international regulations have to be respected.

However, unlike other airlines we’ve written about recently, Mistral Air took care of their passengers. The airline left small Madonna-shaped bottles full of holy water on every seat for when the 145 pilgrims came back on board.

Read the full article here.

Nearer My God to Thee: Catholic Pilgrims Get Their Own Airline

Does the Pope have to remove his shoes every time he goes through airport security, like the rest of us do? Because that can get old. Especially if you travel a lot, like Catholic pilgrims, who’ve apparently been traveling enough to warrant their own charter airline, “Mistral Air.” (The choice of “mistral” as the airline’s name is an interesting one: although it’s etymologically tied to “magistrate,” its modern definition is “a strong cold dry northerly wind of Southern France.” Puzzling. Let’s hope it means something more Catholic-like in Italian.)

Mistral Air was created solely to transport Catholic pilgrims to holy sites around the world. The company’s motto is “I’m Searching for Your Face, Lord.” I wonder if searching is easier for Benedict and friends at 25,000 feet than it is on terra firma?

[via Fodor’s Travel Wire]