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| Frs. Eric Nielsen and Mark Miller distribute ashes at St. Paul University Catholic Center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Ash Wednesday is the busiest day of the year at St. Paul’s with over 1,900 students attending Mass. (Contributed photo) |
MADISON — The marquee on Library Mall read, “Get your ash to Mass.” And get to Mass they did.
When Ash Wednesday comes around at St. Paul University Catholic Center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, it’s all hands on deck.
Our liturgical rotation on Ash Wednesday included three priests, five sacristans, eight altar servers, 10 lectors, dozens of choir members, and 17 ashes-distributors for our five Masses.
Busiest day of year
We needed all the hands we could get. With students typically going back home for Christmas and Easter, Ash Wednesday is by far the busiest day of the year in the St. Paul’s chapel.
This year, over 1,900 students came through our doors to be told that they are dust and to dust they shall return. That number is about double the attendance of a typical Sunday.
Why so popular?
We’re still not sure what makes this day more popular than any Sunday or holy days of obligation.
Apparently, being repeatedly asked the question, “Excuse me, did you know you have dirt on your face?” at every class throughout the day is no deterrent to these students.
More likely, it’s an incentive. The fact that so many hundreds of students on campus would sooner claim Catholicism as an identity than to practice it by, for example, fulfilling the Sunday obligation is an indication that the Catholic brand is alive and well here.
This has major implications for the New Evangelization. It means that more people of the Millennial generation than we might think are willing to give the Catholic faith a chance, but have never discovered a reason to become fully alive in that faith and to actively seek a nearer approach to God.
Mission of St. Paul’s
Our mission at St. Paul’s is to give students that reason. The work we do is aimed at filling the gap between Catholic identity and Catholic practice.
But that’s not to say we don’t shepherd a fair share of converts, too. Many converts, myself included, make up a part of the fabric of the St. Paul’s ministry, and are particularly motivated to share the beauty of the faith with our non-practicing brothers and sisters who by God’s grace have been Catholic all along.
This week, we’ve had the fortune of being joined in that mission for the first time by 15 seminarians from Mundelein Seminary in Illinois. After our Mardi Gras party wrapped up around 10 p.m. Tuesday night, the guests took turns helping us hold overnight Adoration for the conversion of the many students who would find themselves at the next day’s Ash Wednesday Masses. (Some of our interns just slept in the student center for easy wee hours access.)
By day, the seminarians have been donning their clerics and dispersing to the various corners of campus to engage students from a variety of backgrounds in discussions about faith. We hope that their visit is the beginning of a regular partnership between St. Paul’s and Mundelein Seminary.
Needless to say, we’ve all been busy — most of all our priests, Fr. Eric Nielsen and Fr. Mark Miller, who made Confession available non-stop throughout the entirety of Ash Wednesday.
Measure of grace
It is a real blessing to have had such a boundless measure of grace make its dwelling in our building on that day.
The task of praying and fasting for 1,900 souls is truly daunting and would be impossible if we were left to do it on our own.
But the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings (cf Rom. 8:26), which give efficacy to our own groanings and to those in our stomachs.
This Lent, please remember St. Paul’s in the course of yours.
Kevin Mauer is a pastoral intern with the Badger Catholic at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.