amusedAnd yes, it was largely old ladies, quite a goodly proportion of them Fillipinas; Perhaps St Therese has a big following there. There was a fair amount of variety in the crowd, though, including a rather fit young man looking dreamy at whatever his Ipod was pumping into his brain, and a jolly ponytailed bloke who looked like a roadie. (They'll be in my cartoon...) The ushers, mostly fine robust old-school Irishmen, who made me feel kinda nostalgic, were also very jovial. I expect they were looking forward to some peace and quiet, and toasting the saint with their shoes off, tonight. There were a couple of big kiosks set up to fortify the faithful with coffee and fish & chips, and a huge screen broadcasting holy stuff non-stop.
Inside the cathedral, the mood was really very,well,nice. I risked swine flu by dipping my paw in the slimy holy water font to bless myself, as in days of yore. Some of the old ladies kissed the perspex surrounding the ornate casket. By this time I was so into it that I very nearly fuckin' went to confession. (There were big signs pointing where to drag your sinful arse, and a fair few seemed to have been hit, like me, with the mojo.)
Honestly, I felt the better for having gone. I'm dead against the official Catholic preachings on most things. but absurd as it is, the notion that there actually is some sort of benign deity, and kindly wee saints to put in a good word for you, is still very appealing. I just don't see how people can be hard-line atheists and bear to live. So there. I know it's insane...I picked up an extra brochure full of pictures of the doughy-faced 'Little Flower' for R Next Door, which will probably frighten the life out of her. Snerkle.
