Anglicans/Episcopalians, Lutherans, United Methodists and other liturgical Protestants partake in receiving ashes. Is Ash Wednesday a Roman Catholic observance?Ĭatholics are not the only group observing Ash Wednesday. Monsignor Kevin Irwin, a liturgy specialist at Catholic University, said the practice started in the 10th century and became an official liturgy in the 13th century. When was the first Ash Wednesday celebrated?Įarly Christians celebrated the first Ash Wednesday sometime around the Early Middle Ages, Panula said. Here are a few basics on the Ash Wednesday tradition: Arne Panula, director of the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C., said his experience is that more people go to church on Ash Wednesday than any other holiday, including Christmas and Easter. For Christians, Lent is a 40-day season of fasting, reflection and penance culminating in Holy Week and the Easter Sunday commemoration of Jesus’ Resurrection. Be encouraged.Today (March 5) marks the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday. That gift is given to us again, here and now. The invitation is not to focus on our inadequacies, but on God’s gift of grace and love which transforms our hearts and minds. ONE: As Lent begins, know that God understands how we struggle to stay open and compassionate. ONE: Where anxiety has eroded the gift of Your peace, and where we have cared too much about what others think: ONE: Where we have colluded in the oppression of those who become invisible in their suffering, and ignored on the streets: ONE: Where we have neglected prayer, been apathetic in worship, found reasons to avoid generosity, or lacked compassion: ONE: On this first day of Lent we pause, look withinĪLL: Have mercy on us, O God, according to your steadfast love. To meet Jesus and spend time in his presence this Lent. ONE: We follow Jesus, God’s Beloved Child,ĪLL: So we come, with prayers for strength and imagination,

We will embark upon this Lenten walk together. To discover who we are created to be as God’s beloved. ONE: Today we begin our 40-day Lenten walk ONE: From dust we are created in God’s imageĪLL: With dust and oil we claim the mark of God’s beloved creature. We pause to observe Ash Wednesday together as a faith community.ĪLL: We come to remember that God made us from fragile, blessed dust a nd breathes through us the breath of life and love. ONE: Friends and neighbors, in the middle of our busy week, 'What Wondrous Love Is This' | Southern Harmony arr.

Imposition of ashes presbyterian