Ash Wednesday!
It's the beginning of lent and the day where you'll see people all over the place with black ash on their forehead and sometimes it's hard to tell if it's supposed to be there or not.
It's the beginning of lent and the day where you'll see people all over the place with black ash on their forehead and sometimes it's hard to tell if it's supposed to be there or not.
This being said, last night I was talking to some youth of mine about Lent, what they're giving up and if they're coming to Ash Wednesday service or not. One of the youth posed an interesting question to me, "what's Ash Wednesday all about?" and me being the good youth leader I am responded... "Come to church tomorrow at 7:30 to find out." After that conversation I started mulling around in my head ideas - What is Ash Wednesday all about? I had a few snippits from here and there of what I grew up with, but I had never really sought that information, more just believed it blindly like most good Christians would. So,thank you GOD for wikipedia, and for the church service that I attended this evening.
Lent is 40 Days… Starting on Ash Wednesday, not counting Sundays, until Easter morning.
Ash Wednesday is a sacred and holy night, filled with reverence and awe. Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of the faithful as a sign of repentance. Repentance for our sins against ourselves, other humans, nature and GOD.
The ashes used are gathered after the Palm Crosses from the previous year's Palm Sunday are burned. We bring our crosses and upon entering the church there's a burning fire where we place our crosses.
The pastor then blesses those ashes and mixes them with a small amount of oil used during baptisms and marks the forehead of each worshiper and then the cross is retained until after sundown. Ashes may be received by all who profess the Christian faith and are baptized.
Dusting oneself with ashes was the penitents way of expressing sorrow for sins and faults.
Ash Wednesday also includes a great Hymn rendition of "Lift High The Cross" and "My Hope Stands on Nothing less". It makes me remember going to church with my Mom, getting our ashes and then having to go to the grocery store and everyone staring at us.
So, I hope you all had a wonderful Ash Wednesday.
Much Love,
abby
Ash Wednesday is a sacred and holy night, filled with reverence and awe. Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of the faithful as a sign of repentance. Repentance for our sins against ourselves, other humans, nature and GOD.
The ashes used are gathered after the Palm Crosses from the previous year's Palm Sunday are burned. We bring our crosses and upon entering the church there's a burning fire where we place our crosses.
The pastor then blesses those ashes and mixes them with a small amount of oil used during baptisms and marks the forehead of each worshiper and then the cross is retained until after sundown. Ashes may be received by all who profess the Christian faith and are baptized.
Dusting oneself with ashes was the penitents way of expressing sorrow for sins and faults.
Ash Wednesday also includes a great Hymn rendition of "Lift High The Cross" and "My Hope Stands on Nothing less". It makes me remember going to church with my Mom, getting our ashes and then having to go to the grocery store and everyone staring at us.
So, I hope you all had a wonderful Ash Wednesday.
Much Love,
abby
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