LONGBOAT KEY -- Today Catholics and some Protestants, around the world, head to church as a reminder of their mortality and for the beginning of the Season of Lent through the blessing of the ashes on Ash Wednesday.
Rev. Gerard Finegan is the pastor for St. Mary by the Sea Catholic Church on Longboat Key, and he said their church is prepared to receive people throughout the day for prayer and ashes.
”It’s a new season in the liturgical seasons in the church,“ he said. ”This is a preparation for Easter and people will come to know that from dust we are and to dust you will return.“
In the Book of Genesis 3:19 in the Bible, this verse is often used by the church on Ash Wednesday:
”By the sweat of your brow,
you will eat your food,
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are,
and to dust you will return.“
”This is a day when we turn away from sin,“ Finegan said. ”It’s a time of looking at our lives and getting our values right again.“
St. Mary Star of the Sea Church will have an Ash Wednesday Mass at 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Finegan will receive people waiting in line to pray for them and place ashes on their forehead, as a symbol of the journey people are on to be closer to God.
Church administrator Phyllis McGuire said that the season leading up to Easter is filled with prayer and penitence.
”On Wednesday, they (Catholics) will get ashes from the palms burned on Palm Sunday from the previous year as an outward symbol of sin,“ she said. ”The priest will say a little prayer and make a black smudge with the ashes on their foreheads.“
Finegan said the Book of Joel 2:12 in the Bible explains Ash Wednesday. It begins:
”Even now’, the Lord says,
Ôreturn to me and respect me.
Eat no food. Weep and be very sad.“
”The whole season of lent is summed up in those words - an invitation to return to our Lord,“ Finegan said. He dressed in a symbolic purple on Ash Wednesday.
McGuire said today marks the start of 40 days of prayer, penitence and self-denial, and the ashes, though they wear off quickly, are a reminder of mortality and sin. She added that some people will take away something from their lives they enjoy for 40 days during the time leading up to Easter.
”We need to be mindful of our own mortality,“ Finegan said. ”We need to turn around.“
Erica Newport is a daily reporter for The Bradenton Times. She covers art, culture and community. If you have a story that might interest Erica, please e-mail her using erica.newport@thebradentontimes.com address. She also takes your questions related to our weekly theme days and provides advice and opinions for our readers.
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