A happy & half-y Easter at St. Pat's
Holiday Mass returns at 50(-ish) percent capacity
The traditional Easter Mass returned to St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Sunday — but at 50 percent capacity because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Timothy Cardinal Dolan opened the doors of the historic Fifth Avenue cathedral to the faithful — and even sneaked in a few extras.
“Last year, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, I don’t mind an empty tomb on Easter morning — but an empty church?’ ” the cardinal quipped, noting 2020’s all-virtual hold event. “Forget it.
“So to see the folks back, even though we’re still limited to 50 percent capacity — don’t tell anybody, I’m afraid we went a little over that today, but we were very careful — sure means the world,” he said.
“And to know that hundreds of thousands are united with us from home, that’s the church’s job, to get out the good news about the resurrection of Jesus,” he added, referring to the service’s live broadcast.
The cathedral, which has a capacity of 2,200, offered reserved tickets for half of its seats, as allowed, with more than 200 gathered outside.
But shortly before the 10 a.m. Mass, Dolan let in everyone outside to fill the seats of no-show ticket holders and even had folding chairs set up for others.
“No one was turned away,” Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, told reporters.
Social-distancing guidelines were in place. Worshippers wore masks and filled some of the pews, with two empty ones for each filled one.
Programs for the Mass were not printed out and left in the pews — as they have been in years past — but were available online, with attendees instructed to download them.
“I am very excited about being here on Easter,” said Olga Gruscinska, a Manhattan doctor who attended the service. “We want to get back out of our cage and celebrate together with people here, sitting next to each other. It means a lot.”
Her companion, Claudine Holt, a doctor from Murray Hill, agreed.
“We showed up early with our tickets and no line,” Holt said. “That was a first!
“This is my favorite time of year,” she added. “I’ve come every year since moving to New York, and the first Easter Mass at St. Patrick’s I’ve missed was last year.”
Dolan delivered the Mass virtually from an empty cathedral last year.
“I’ve come every Easter for the past 22 years,” said Paola Isabella Rocha Tornito, a design consultant from Manhattan. “I only missed one, last year. There was no Mass, and it was terrible.”
Still, the pandemic put a damper on other traditional Big Apple Easter festivities this year.
The annual Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival went virtual for the second straight year on Sunday.
Instead of strolling Fifth Avenue in their finest Easter attire, participants were asked by the event’s organizer, the Fifth Avenue Association, to instead post photos of themselves in their outfits on Instagram, where they were judged by a panel.