Mark your calendars for February 17th for Ash Wednesday–the beginning of Lent. Lent is a season wherein we walk with Jesus through his forty days in the wilderness and it is traditionally a penitential and quiet time of fasting or prayer or contemplation.
During this season of COVID-19, we won’t be able to have Ash Wednesday services like normal but we’ll pray together on our Facebook page at the hours of both 7am and 7pm. The early service will be simple and spoken and brief. The evening service will include music and sermon.
The imposition of ashes is a custom that is meaningful for many and not a requirement in the rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer. The ashes are a reminder of our mortality and it can be a touchy reminder during a pandemic, but if you are eager to practice that annual ritual of the imposition of ashes, we encourage you to procure something ashy or dirty or smudging to practice the imposition within your own household — some dirt, some eyeshadow, a magic marker, even a candle (when extinguished and cooled, you can use the soot from the wick). Fr. Steve will offer the prayer for ashes/imposition and it is perfectly okay to participate in that ritual from home (the Bishop said so).
Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.
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