Invitation to St. Mary’s Ash Wednesday Services and Stations of the Cross
Detail from stained glass window at St. Mary, Manchester, featuring the crown of thorns and the proclamation posted on the cross: “INRI,” i.e. “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”
You may have wondered about the Catholic practices of Lent which begins on Ash Wednesday. You may wonder about the ashes on their foreheads in the form of a cross or their renewed emphasis on “giving something up” or the special acts of kindness they may offer.
All of it makes sense when you consider that the holy and solemn season of Lent is a time when Catholics seek ever more earnestly to “draw close to God so that He may draw close to us,” as it says in the Sacred Scriptures (James 4:8). And this shift away from more earthly pleasures is given shape by the traditional Lenten practices of “prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.”
The people of St Mary, Manchester, invite any and all in the community to join them as they begin this 40-day journey of Lent on Ash Wednesday, February 18, at the parish church on the Village Green, across from the Gazebo. There will be two Masses that day: at 8:30 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
During each of these Masses following the homily, ashes from last year’s palms are blessed and then those in attendance are invited to come forward for the “imposition of ashes” as a sign of conversion, penance, fasting, and human mortality.
The ashes marked on the forehead in the sign of a cross are meant to signify our desire to enter into the desert with Jesus and journey with Him for forty days. The priest says one of two things as he imposes the ashes: “Remember, you are dust, and to dust you will return.” Or “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”
Catholics seek to fall more deeply in love with our LORD through the spiritual disciplines of Lent. Lent is a season that calls us to forego the noise and visual distractions of the world that interfere with us hearing the LORD as He calls to us and seeks to enter into a deeper relationship with us.
The people of St. Mary invite all of their friends and neighbors in the Manchester area to share in the Ash Wednesday Mass and to begin the season of Lent. They also invite all to join them on the Friday evenings of Lent at 7:00 p.m. to pray the Stations of the Cross, remembering Jesus’ journey to Calvary.
Deacon Dennis Walters of St. Mary’s explains this traditional devotion:
“The Stations of the Cross are a way of reenacting Jesus’ journey to Calvary, carrying his cross. We retrace in imagination each step (or station) on the way, meditating on the weight of the cross, on Jesus’ meeting with the women of Jerusalem, on his crucifixion, and on his death and burial.
“This devotion is similar to the annual processions in the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, where pilgrims retrace the route from Pilate’s judgment seat to Calvary. The devotion, in essence, is as old as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built by the Emperor Constantine in 335 A.D. In the form most American Catholics know it, it is comparatively recent, dating back to the year the U.S. Constitution was ratified.
“Most Catholic churches locate the Stations indoors, in the form of pictures of the scene, bas-reliefs, or simple crosses at fourteen places along the church walls. A leader, either a clergyman or lay person, goes from station to station, reading a short meditation and leading the congregation in prayer. The devotion takes approximately twenty minutes.
“Anyone who wants to spend time reflecting prayerfully on the events of Jesus’ passion is welcome to join St. Mary’s parishioners in following the Stations of the Cross,” Walters concluded. “There is no cost, and no collection will be taken. Just come.”
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