ASH WEDNESDAY , March 1st

IMPOSITION OF ASHES ONLY 7:00 am to 12noon

ASH WEDNESDAY -IMPOSITION OF ASHES ONLY 7:00 am to 12noon 7:30 pm - Services, Imposition of Ashes and Holy Eucharist Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting, is the first day of Lent. It occurs 46 days (40 fasting days, before Easter and can fall as early as February 4 or as late as March 10.) According to the Gospels of Mathew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert, where he endured temptation by Satan. Lent originated as a mirroring of this, fasting 40 days as preparation for Easter. Every Sunday was seen as a commemoration of the Sunday of Christ's resurrection and so as a feast day on which fasting was inappropriate. Accordingly, Christians fasted from Monday to Saturday during six weeks and from Wednesday to Saturday (four days) in the preceding week, thus making up the number of 40 days. Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of blessing ashes made from palm branches blessed on the previous year's Palm Sunday, and placing them on the heads of participants to the accompaniment of the words "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" or "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return".

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