A COUNTY Galway church which has a unique way of blessing their busy parishioners each Ash Wednesday has announced their most succesful year yet.
St Patrick's Church in Glenamaddy, Galway, have for several years been operating a 'drive-thru' service on Ash Wednesday, where the good Catholics of the parish can get the ashes on their forehead without ever stepping out of their cars.
This year saw the "largest attendance in four years" (Facebook)Traditionally, on the first day of Lent, Catholics receive ashes in the shape of a cross in their forehead as a reminder of their mortality, often accompanied by the words "we are dust and to dust we shall return".
It's not unusual for priests to visit local schools on the day, ensuring young people can receive their ashes without missing their education, but St Patrick's Church has changed the game, with people showing up on bikes, in cars and even in tractors.
A photo from a previous year shows Fr Mooney blessing a parishioner in a tractor (Facebook)Hundreds of parishioners queued up in their vehicles outside the church as local priests Fr Paddy Mooney and Fr Tom Kearney blessed them and spread the ashes, and while the service is popular every year, the church yesterday announced on Facebook that they had their "largest attendance in four years".
The drive-thru service continues to increase in popularity each year, as last year St Patrick's Church also announced that they had seen record numbers attending the service.
It's definitely one way the Catholic church is keeping up with the modern world!
