The book of palms: Priest can’t stop laughing when five-year-old girl high-fives him as he blesses her
- In the middle of her blessing, the girl reaches up and high-fives the priest
- He struggles to contain his laughter as he tries to carry on with the blessing
- The video of the adorable high five has been watched over seven million times
The moment a priest can’t stop laughing after being given a high-five by a little girl in the middle of a blessing was captured on video and quickly became a viral hit.
Standing between the priest and an older woman holding a candle, the girl – wearing a white frock and mask – mistook his blessing as an invitation to give him a high five.
After reciting ‘our father’ and making the sign of the cross, the priest held his hand up over her head, but to his surprise, the little five-year-old girl nonchalantly reached up and gave his hand a celebratory tap.
‘Give me a high five, father’: A little girl high-fived a priest as he was trying to give her a blessing. The priest struggled to contain his laughter after the adorable incident
The video shows that while she acts like this is a perfectly normal thing to do in church, the priest fights back laughter, briefly covering his mouth with his hand as he tries to continue.
The person behind the camera can also be heard laughing, while the woman behind the girl – possibly her mother – shakes her head in disbelief as she tries to hold the girl’s arm.
The priest manages to compose himself briefly and continues with the blessing, interrupted occasionally with small bursts of laughter.
Once he has finished his blessing, he can be heard speaking with the woman as he sprinkles the girl with holy water from an aspergillum, and is heard saying ‘she said, give me a high-five, father’ in Spanish.
People online suggested that the adorable incident took place during mass, but it is unclear what the blessing was for.
Spanish language press have speculated that it was for a baptism, while the woman holding a candle could indicate it was a first communion.
The priest carried on with the blessing while fighting back laughter, as the person behind the camera also laughs. The woman with the girl – possibly her mother – shakes her head in disbelief while trying to hold the girl’s arm down. The video has been viewed over seven million times
The video has received over seven million views on TikTok and has been widely shared on other social media platforms since it was posted on Wednesday.
Many have reacted to the heartwarming video, noting the girl’s innocence at believing the father was asking her for a high five in the middle of the ceremony.
Basketball player Rex Chapman shared the video on Twitter with the caption ‘Father is saying a blessing. The innocence of a child. They’re trying not to laugh. Best thing you’ll see today…’
Netizens reacted to the adorable video, with one joking: ‘Rule number one of high fives: never leave someone hanging’
Another Twitter user joked ‘Rule number one of high fives: never leave someone hanging,’ while another wrote: ‘If you weren’t taught, at a young age, to give a high five to every open hand presented, then you weren’t raised right.’
Another had empathy for the priest’s efforts to hold in his laughter, saying: ‘Aint [sic] no laughter harder to hold in than laughter in the middle of a serious moment in church.’