Everyone is having to adapt to life in lockdown, with technology playing a more important role than ever in keeping us together while we’re apart.

Getting to grips with said technology will prove more difficult for some than others though – which an Italian priest demonstrated quite perfectly while live streaming a Mass.

After positioning his phone by the alter, he stepped back, ready to share the word of Christ in these uncertain and fearful times. However, he inadvertently activated the face filters on his device, meaning that before he could even utter a word, some kind of alien robot helmet appeared on his head.

Seemingly none the wiser, he proceeded with his sermon as virtual arms lifted weights before him and a hat and sunglasses complemented his gown.

While the use of the filters was almost certainly a mistake, it did mean his words actually ended up reaching far more people than he ever could have imagined, with the clip being viewed more than 1.6 million times on Twitter.

Gavin Shoebridge shared the footage with the caption: “In Italy today, a priest decided to live-stream a mass due to Covid-19. Unfortunately he activated the video filters by mistake.”

How exactly Gavin knows this was a mistake is unclear; how can we know for sure that this ain’t the coolest priest in all of Italy?

Either way, it seems people would very much back this being the standard way in which a priest live streams Mass from now on.

Commenting on the video, one person said: “I would say ‘fortunately’. The space helmet was the best.”

Another said: “I woke up my wife to watch this, she has had to blow her nose twice from laughing so hard… My throat hurts so much. I can’t go into our bedroom, I am still giggling and am afraid to wake up our five-week-old son.”

A third added: “I love this so much. I’m not a churchgoer, but I appreciate the effort they’re making for their congregation, despite the fact that they might be technically challenged.”

So accident or not, what is clear is that the priest gave us all a laugh when we needed it to most.