Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the season of Lent in the Christian Church. It marks 40 days (excluding Sundays) before Easter. It is a time of spiritual preparation for the celebration of Easter. This preparation often includes fasting or “giving things up” for Lent.

The sign of Ash Wednesday, a cross outlined in the ashes of the previous year’s Palm Sunday palms, is a sign of penitence from the Bible. In Scriptural times, people would cover their heads in ashes. This covering would be a sign to yourself as well as to others of a distressed time in your life. It would often mark a recognition for a need to change one’s self or one’s behaviors.

Additionally, the sign of the ash cross makes us think of the cross traced on the brows of people who are baptized when the words “receive the sign of the holy cross, both upon your forehead and upon your heart to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the Crucified.”

We hope that you will join us for this meaningful occasion in the life of the Church.