Ash Wednesday Service 11am
March 5 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Ash Wednesday Services at 11:00 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Our Ash Wednesday service has its roots in the Old Testament, where covering oneself with sackcloth and ashes was a sign of repentance and mourning. Early Christians also used sackcloth and ashes as a sign of their repentance. In 8th century Rome, an antiphon was sung during the opening procession on the first day of Lent which mentioned putting on sackcloth and ashes. The Romans interpreted it spiritually, but in Northern Europe the actual imposition of ashes was begun in order to give liturgical expression to the text. In 1091 a North Italian council ordered everyone to receive ashes “on Ash Wednesday.”
The meaning not only of the imposition of ashes but of the day itself is expressed both in the prayers said by the presider before the imposition of ashes and by the words used during it: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (BCP 265).
