Ash Wednesday Mass Schedule
February 17, 2010
February 17, 2010
| 7:00 a.m., 8:30 a.m., & 12 30 p.m. | In the Church |
| 6:15 p.m. | In the Church & in the Parish Hall |
| 8:00 p.m. | In the Church |
Ash Wednesday Prayer Service ~ Children's Liturgy
(with Distribution of Ashes)
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| 4:30 p.m. | In the Church |
The wearing of ashes is a pre-Christian expression found in Judith 9:11, Daniel 9:3 and Jonah 3:6. Jesus was familiar with the practice (Matthew 11:21), and the early church made it a sign of public penance. Ashes were sprinkled on penitents' heads. Around the year 1000, ashes came to be used by all the faithful. In 1091 Pope Urban II recommended the custom to all churches in communion with Rome. The rubrics calls for foreheads to be signed with the ashes; traditionally this is done in the form of a cross. Thus, we are "branded" again with the sign of our baptism, reminding us of the purpose of Lent as a time of baptismal renewal.
The ashes used on Ash Wednesday come from the palm branches that were blessed the preceding year on Palm Sunday, which will be burned on February 16 (Mardi Gras).
The ashes used on Ash Wednesday come from the palm branches that were blessed the preceding year on Palm Sunday, which will be burned on February 16 (Mardi Gras).