Lent Starts Wednesday

Take off your Mardi Gras beads. Eat your last paczki. Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, a solemn time for Christians for 40 days before Easter.

Most commonly observed by Catholics, Anglicans, Episcopalians and Lutherans, Ash Wednesday falls on the seventh Wednesday before Easter. During Lent Christians are enouraged to fast, pray, give alms and seek repentance for their sins. Some Christians abstain from a normal part of their daily routine during Lent to remind them of the sacrifice of Christ. Some might refrain from eating certain favorite foods or from fun activities.

The solemn proceedings that occur on Ash Wednesday are intended to bring the focus back to the sacrifice of Christ and the mission of the Church, according to faithclipart.com. The observance most likely comes from the Biblical Day of Atonement mentioned in Leviticus 16, in which the Lord established an annual day of repentance for the Israelites as a lasting ordinance for all their generations.

On this day, Christians were to come before a priest or minister to receive the sign of the cross, marked in ashes on their foreheads, as a way to remember: Ashes to ashes. Catholic priests make the sign of the cross, saying the words: "Remember man that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return." 

T.S. Eliot wrote a poem, “Ash Wednesday”, three years after his 1927 conversion to Anglicanism. It is a poem of penitence, near despair and hope. In it, he focuses more on struggle and doubt than on belief. Eliot shares his belief in God, although he doubts his own ability to respond to Him. To read the poem, click here.

Service Times for Burr Ridge Churches:

Burr Ridge United Church of Christ: Sunday worship: 10 a.m.

St. Helena's Episcopal Church: Morning prayer: Wed, 9 a.m.; Mass: Sun. 9:30 a.m.; Wed, 6 p.m.

Saint Mark Coptic Orthodox Church of Chicago: Divine Liturgy: Sun, 8:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., Sunday School: 11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. Servants Meeting: 1 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Saint Peter and Saint Paul Orthodox Church: Divine Liturgy Sunday at 9:30 a.m.

Trinity Lutheran Church: Saturday Evening Celebration: 6:30 p.m. (every Saturday); Sunday Worship: 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.