Ash Wednesday Mass
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Ash Wednesday Mass
Wednesday, February 17 St. John Mass Times: 12:10pm and 7pm This coming Wednesday we kick off Lent with Ash Wednesday! All are welcome to attend the 12:10 pm or 7 pm Mass in person or virtually via a livestream at the 12:10 Mass or after at https://www.facebook.com/stjohnsindy. No need for a Facebook account to access the video livestream. This year, due to Covid restrictions, ashes will be sprinkled on each person's head instead of the cross placed on foreheads. The Roman Missal only says that the minister “places ashes” (imponit cineres) and does not specify how. Sprinkling ashes on the top of the head recalls the biblical practice of putting on “sackcloth and ashes” as an act of penance. For example, we read in the Book of Nehemiah: “On the twenty-fourth day of this month, the Israelites gathered together while fasting and wearing sackcloth, their heads covered with dust” (Neh 9:1). While the custom in the USA has been to mark the forehead with a cross, sprinkling the ashes on the head has been used for centuries and remains the custom in other parts of the world such as Spain and Italy. However the ashes are received, the interior repentance expressed by this exterior act is at the heart of the action. |