Ash Wednesday Service held at St. Patrick

Ash Wednesday, March 6, was celebrated at St. Patrick with a beautiful service held by Father Greg Barras. The whole school gathered together to listen to the day’s readings and to hear a lovely homily about the true meaning of the Lenten Season. All of the students received ashes and silently left the campus, in deep reverence of the ceremony and listening to how God wants them to come into a deeper relationship with Him this Lent.

Junior Jacob Roberts says, “Father Greg’s homily at the service helped me to better understand the true meaning of Lent. It encouraged me to fast from sin and to be more charitable.”

Ash Wednesday is one of the most important days of the liturgical year. It marks the beginning of Lent, forty-six days before Easter Sunday. Priests administer ashes to the congregation as a visible sign of penance. They represent grief, sin, and a division from God. The ashes are from the blessed palm branches of the previous year’s Palm Sunday service. The Lenten Season is a season of penance, fasting, and almsgiving. The Ash Wednesday practice is an ancient Jewish tradition that has continued on to modern times.

Story by Avery King