Ash Wednesday

The meaning of the celebration

+ On this day the Church celebrates the “day of ashes,” marking the beginning of the forty days of Lent.

+ “Lent” comes from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “springtime” and is both a time of penance and renewal oriented toward helping us grow in our commitment as disciples of Jesus.

+ The forty days of Lent recall the forty days Jesus spent praying and fasting in the wilderness, the days that Noah and his family spent on the ark following the great flood, and the forty years the People of Israel spent in the desert before entering the Promised Land.

+ The traditional “good works” of Lent are prayer, fasting, and acts of charity (especially giving alms for the poor).

+ The season of Lent ends on the afternoon of Holy Thursday. At that time, the Church enters the Paschal Triduum and our annual remembrance of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus.

For prayer and reflection

“The ashes bespeak the emptiness hiding behind the frenetic quest for worldly rewards. They remind us that worldliness is like the dust that is carried away by a slight gust of wind. Sisters and brothers, we are not in this world to chase the wind; our hearts thirst for eternity. Lent is the time granted us by the Lord to be renewed, to nurture our interior life and to journey towards Easter, towards the things that do not pass away, towards the reward we are to receive from the Father. Lent is also a journey of healing.”—Pope Francis

Prayer

Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting
this campaign of Christian service,
so that, as we take up battle against spiritual evils,
we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.