"It was spitting rain as I headed up Talbot Street. Approaching O'Connell Street, I detoured right on to Marlborough Street to duck into the former Pro Cathedral - now called St Mary's Cathedral - to get some ashes."
"Often churches leave a bowl inside the door for anyone who can't or doesn't want to sit through mass on Ash Wednesday."
"I'm not a particularly religious person, but I have a personal reason for getting the ashes. My father was a man of great faith, said the Angelus each night and got the ashes, as well as having his throat blessed on the Feast of St Blaise."
It was spitting rain while I walked up Talbot Street, prompting a detour onto Marlborough Street to enter the former Pro Cathedral, now St Mary's Cathedral, and receive ashes. Churches often place a bowl inside the door for anyone who cannot or does not want to sit through Ash Wednesday mass. Personal devotion is limited, but the ashes were a private act of remembrance for a father who said the Angelus nightly, received ashes annually, and had his throat blessed on the Feast of St Blaise. The ceremonial gesture offered in memory was later interpreted by others as an expression of far-right affiliation.
Read at Independent
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]