ASH WEDNESDAY
SERVICES TIMES 8 AM. 12 NOON & 6 PM Holy Eucharist * Imposition of Ashes * Anointing & Laying on of Hands
We invite you to begin your Lenten journey with us on this day.
For the Western Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and occurs forty-six days (forty days not counting Sundays) before Easter. It is a moveable feast, falling on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter. It can occur as early as 4 February or as late as 10 March. It marks the start of a forty day period analogous to the separation of Jesus in the desert to fast and pray. During this time he was tempted. Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, and Luke 4:1-13.
Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of the faithful as a sign of repentance. The ashes used are gathered after the Palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday are burned. The priest recites the words: “Remember (O man) that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”, or “Repent, and believe the Gospel.”
The Book of Common Prayer also designates Ash Wednesday as a day of fasting.
15 Feb, 2010 — Daniel Tomko
