Ash Wednesday marks beginning of Lent

Staff photo by Suzanne Stone.

Christians of many sects prepared for the coming of Lent by attending Ash Wednesday church services. Churches around Aiken County offered special services to accommodate increased Holy Week attendance.

St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church offered two early services, a noon service and a 5:30 p.m. service, as well as an evening Spanish-language Mass Wednesday. St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church offered early and late morning services and an evening service, while Ebenezer Church of the Nazarene opted for an evening prayer meeting for Ash Wednesday.

In keeping with Christian tradition, Ash Wednesday services use ashes from the burning of Palm Sunday fronds to mark worshipers' heads as a sign of mourning and repentance.

Sects such as Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist and Presbyterians observe Ash Wednesday with special services.

"St. Augustine of Hippo tells us that there are two kinds of people and two kinds of love: One is holy, the other is selfish. One is subject to God, the other endeavors to equal him. We are what we love. God wants to free our hearts from all that would keep us captive to selfishness and sin," Fr. Max Tria told parishioners at St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church's noon Mass. "The 40 days of Lent is the annual retreat of the people of God in imitation of Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness ... Today we are also called to journey with the Lord in a special season of prayer, fasting, alms giving and penitence as we prepare to celebrate the Feast of Easter, the Christian Passover."

Ash Wednesday is the first day of the season of Lent, which consists of 40 weekdays leading from Ash Wednesday up to Easter. Christians prepare themselves for the Holy Week observances of the death and resurrection of Jesus through fasting, penitence, alms and self-denial as well as prayer. The six Sundays during the Lenten season are not counted as part of the 40 days' observance.

Suzanne Stone is a general assignment reporter at the Aiken Standard. She is a graduate of the Savannah College of Art & Design and studied communications at Augusta State University. She is a native of Augusta, Ga. She was a reporter for the North Augusta Star prior to joining the Aiken Standard staff. Contact Suzanne Stone at sstone@aikenstandard.com, or follow on Twitter at #SuzanneRStone and on Facebook at Suzanne Stone | Aiken Standard.