Between the COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently, the Arctic blast that sent temperatures plummeting to record lows Monday and Tuesday, this Mardi Gras season has been anything but normal for the people of South Louisiana.
But at least one tradition has held fast at St. Tammany Health System: the placing of ashes on the foreheads of the Christian faithful on Ash Wednesday to mark the start of Lent.
STHS Chaplain Mike Binnings was scheduled to administer ashes outside the hospital chapel every hour on the hour Ash Wednesday morning, and then for about 30 minutes at noon, for those colleagues and hospital visitors wishing to mark the observance. Meanwhile, Chaplain Zac Ritchie made the rounds to the health system’s numerous satellite locations to offer ashes to colleagues there.
While Binnings said the number of those receiving ashes this year was a touch lower than in previous years – probably, he guessed, because the lack of a traditional Mardi Gras celebration had many forgetting today was Ash Wednesday – it’s still a popular observation at the health system.
Throughout the morning, a slow but steady stream of hospital colleagues and visitors stopped by to receive their ashes from Binnings.
“We’ve been doing it as long as I’ve been here – 13 or 14 years, and it always draws people,” Binnings said. “I think it’s because it brings to mind our mortality, reminds us that we need to do what can do to bring us closer to God.”
Among those pausing to receive ashes this year: hospital President and CEO Joan Coffman, who noted that – with COVID-19 still present in our community – this year’s observation felt particularly poignant.
“Generally, with Fat Tuesday being the big day of celebration during Mardi Gras week, on Ash Wednesday we get our ashes and begin to abstain and sacrifice,” Coffman said. “The irony of it, especially for our team here, is that the past year has been all about sacrifice. That makes it particularly meaningful this year.”