Surrogate priests

[ST, Jan 12 (2006)]

Inside Notredame's cathedral there are vending machines. They do not dispense soft drinks or food, though. They offer prayers, a variety of them, a best-of-the-best selection. The modern parishioner, as it were, is nowadays confronted with the steady decrease in the figures of available priests. Relief is harder to find in the traditional way. Hence, these flashy vending machines play the role of virtual, surrogate priests. Full colour pictures of the Pope are displayed on the front, along with a selection of all-time favourite prayers - a prayer hit list, a billboard, a chart. After choosing the suitable language and for the price of two humble euros, one can relax and listen and be relieved under the soothing effect of a soft, electronic yet pious, Fatherly voice. I picked the Lord's Prayer for the sake of testing purposes, but the experience was somewhat embarrassing, what with that constant flow of tourists passing by and glancing.