Activities

LENT

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Words spoken as a small cross of ashes is placed on the forehead of each person who comes to an Ash Wednesday service.

The season of Lent lasts for forty weekdays, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. It is a solemn drama in which Christians prepare themselves, through abstinence, fasting and prayer, to accompany Christ in the events of Holy Week, including his betrayal, his crucifixion, his death, and his resurrection.

Lent is said to correspond to the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness preparing for his public ministry. It is also a time for all Christians to strengthen their faith through study and reflection.

The last week of Lent repeats, step by step, the central drama of Christianity. It begins on Palm Sunday, marking Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem when he was hailed by the populace, who spread palm branches before him, the long-expected redeemer. In churches throughout the world, palms are distributed.

On Thursday of Holy Week, many churches observe the “Last Supper” of Jesus with his disciples with the elements of bread and “wine” and the stripping of the altar.

On Good Friday, a service with a vigil is observed to commemorate the hours Christ hung on the cross before his death.

Easter Sunday morning is a celebration of rebirth, the renewal of life and Christ’s resurrection. The women who came early to the tomb found it empty. “Alleluia, Christ is risen!”, “He is risen indeed! Alleluia!” is the response heard around the world !

Taken from an article written on pluralism.org/religions/christianity/the-christian-experience/ash-wednesday-to-easter-sunday, from Harvard U.