To kickstart Lent on Wednesday 5th April, the vicar of St Peter's Church, Notting Hill, spent the morning outside Notting Hill Gate tube station in London, 'ashing' pedestrians with the sign of the holy cross.
The video of the Ash Wednesday event went viral online, accumulating hundreds of thousands of views across various social media platforms.
Rev Pat Allerton told Premier Christian News that he was surprised by just how popular the video has been.
"We put this video out there...just checked five minutes ago, on TikTok it's been watched 320,000 times, 80,000 times on Instagram," he said. "It's just crazy what social media does."
On his personal Instagram page 'the portable priest', where he has amassed over 15,000 followers, Rev Pat captioned the video: "What a great reminder that says, 'For dust you are and to dust you shall return.'"
The popular worship song Goodness of God by Bethel Music played in the background.
A priest in Notting Hill is blessing people this Ash Wednesday.
— Queen Natalie (@TheNorfolkLion) March 5, 2025
I’m not religious myself, but it’s heartwarming to see this and see how positively people are responding ✝️ pic.twitter.com/EvAo9mc5Oj
Reactions to the video were overwhelmingly positive.
One user commented: "God bless you! The UK needs this more than ever," while another said: "With everything else going on in this country and in our capital at the moment, this has me in tears."
It was not only Christians singing Rev Pat's praises, with one saying: "I am not religious in any way, but I will say, well done that man!"
However, the video did spark political discussion. On TikTok, a user said, "It's a pity our head of the church hasn't made a comment or the PM, absolutely embarrassed by this country."
Another wrote: "I've not seen our King, Prime Minister, or Mayor of our capital wish us Christians a happy Ash Wednesday/Lent, shows where their loyalty lies."