Ash Wednesday begins
What are you giving up for Lent? Ash Wednesday begins
Christians throughout the Southland will observe Ash Wednesday, beginning the 40-day season of Lent, when the faithful prepare for Easter by doing penance for sins and seeking spiritual renewal through prayer, discipline and good works.
Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of the faithful as a sign of penance. A minister or priest marks the forehead of each participant with black ashes in the shape of a cross.
In the Roman Catholic church, as the ashes are applied to each individual’s forehead they are told, “Turn from sin and live the Gospel.”
Catholics observe Ash Wednesday by fasting, abstaining from meat and repentance. Other Christian denominations make fasting optional, with the main focus being on repentance.
Roman Catholic Archbishop Jose H. Gomez will celebrate Ash Wednesday Mass at noon at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. The Mass will be streamed live on the cathedral’s website, olacathedral.org.
Mass will be also celebrated at the cathedral in English at 6:15, 7 and 8 a.m. and 5:15 p.m., and at 7 p.m. in Spanish. A bilingual Liturgy of the Word will be celebrated at 3 p.m.
Ashes will be distributed during all services.
“During this Jubilee Year of Mercy, let us make this Lent a time when we really make mercy the heart of our identity as Christians,” Gomez said, referring to Pope Francis’ calling an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy to direct our attention and actions “on mercy so that we may become a more effective sign of the Father’s actions in our lives.”
“Mercy means action. Mercy means feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick, visiting the imprisoned, and burying the dead.
“In our personal relationships, mercy means having more patience and tenderness with those who are close to us. Mercy means giving people the benefit of the doubt, giving them a second chance. Mercy means forgiving others as we have been forgiven.
“So during his season of Lent, let us fast and pray that God will give us a merciful heart.”
Good Question: Why Ashes On Ash Wednesday?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Tomorrow
is Ash Wednesday, a day when millions of Christians all over the world
head to church and leave with a cross of ashes on their foreheads. It
signifies the first day of Lent – a time of prayer, penance and
sacrifice before Easter.
So, why ashes on Ash Wednesday? Good Question.
“This goes back to the Hebrew Bible,” says Johan van Parys, director of Liturgy and the Sacred Arts at the Basilica of St. Mary. “There was a custom whenever somebody did penance was to dress in sackcloth and throw ashes on their head.”
Ashes were used to express penance. Often, the blessed ashes are accompanied by the words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Van Parys points out not only are the ashes used to start Lent, but Ash Wednesday is also a day of fasting and abstinence. It doesn’t just apply to Catholics, but to many other Christians groups worldwide.
“Marking ourselves with a cross at the beginning of Lent is saying that during this time of repentance, we want to live more and more as Jesus has asked us to live, following his example of sacrifice,” says van Parys.
The ashes are made of the palm branches used during the Palm Sunday services of the previous year. They are burned and the ash is mixed with a little oil to make it stick.
So, why ashes on Ash Wednesday? Good Question.
“This goes back to the Hebrew Bible,” says Johan van Parys, director of Liturgy and the Sacred Arts at the Basilica of St. Mary. “There was a custom whenever somebody did penance was to dress in sackcloth and throw ashes on their head.”
Ashes were used to express penance. Often, the blessed ashes are accompanied by the words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Van Parys points out not only are the ashes used to start Lent, but Ash Wednesday is also a day of fasting and abstinence. It doesn’t just apply to Catholics, but to many other Christians groups worldwide.
“Marking ourselves with a cross at the beginning of Lent is saying that during this time of repentance, we want to live more and more as Jesus has asked us to live, following his example of sacrifice,” says van Parys.
The ashes are made of the palm branches used during the Palm Sunday services of the previous year. They are burned and the ash is mixed with a little oil to make it stick.
Ash Wednesday begins
![Ash Wednesday begins]()
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