Mass influx for Ash Wednesday services

In the beautiful setting of St Peter and Paul’s Church, the congregation has temporarily swelled to almost 300 people — all marking the start of Lent with heads bowed, knees bent, and foreheads daubed in ash.

But a packed-to-the-rafters situation is far from the norm in Cork City, according to practising Catholic Richard O’Mahony, who is originally from Waterford.

“I go to Mass here regular and you’d have a small crowd here every other day, but today it’s absolutely packed in there. The church is packed today and yet other days there wouldn’t be a half dozen there,” he said.

A downside to the mass influx yesterday highlighted the lack of youth in the aisles — only three children were in attendance, including 5-year-old Keegan Spillett from Blarney, and the majority of the people in pews were over the age of 50.

Marie Finn from Friar’s Walk said nowadays people are less concerned about things like fasting, and that religion seems to be fading out of them. “I’m nearly 77 years of age but I was always very strict with myself about fasting. The nuns in school were very strict about it. You had to fast from meat twice a week anyway, every Wednesday and Friday,” she said.

“I don’t think it does any harm. At least if you do some little bit, when you get back to normal you appreciate it more. But people don’t think like that these days.”

This year, Greg Bolte, from Iowa in the US, is giving up “French fries and soda” while Katherine Hyble, a mechanical engineering student at UCC, is swearing off chocolate. “It’s Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, so I always like to start it with Mass. I’m giving up chocolate this year, and I’m hoping to do an additional going to Mass and rosary every week,” she said.

Originally from Kansas, she says the practice of getting ashes on your forehead is a symbol of mortality.

“It’s symbolic because it reminds me that when I die I’m gonna be put in the earth. So like they say when they put on the ashes, remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. This earthly life is temporary, so we’re striving for something higher.”

Mary O’Brien says the ashes remind her that at the end of the day, everything ends. “It’s a reminder we’re going to another place, a better place.”