Remember that you are dust

Remember that you are dust

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Lent is observed in the forty days leading up to Holy Week. It’s calculated either by omitting the Sunday’s, when the Lenten discipline is relaxed, or by finishing on Palm Sunday. We see both methods being used, and I’m not at all sure which is right, if either of them are. My own preference is the latter, so that we have Lent, Holy Week, and Easter, as three distinct periods of time — to me, that way raises the importance of Holy Week.

The figure forty is based on the forty days that Jesus fasted in the wilderness after his baptism, before he began his ministry. In the early Church, candidates for baptism at Easter prepared for it by forty days of learning and fasting. It wasn’t long before the rest of the congregation wanted to join with them in this discipline And so the current Lenten practises of giving something up was born. As well as giving something up for Lent, we are also encouraged to take something on — extra Biblical study, for instance. One of the things I intend to try and do this Lent is to start saying Morning Prayer again; the habit has slipped in recent months.

Ashes are an ancient sign of penitence. From the middle ages it became the custom to begin Lent by being marked in ash with the sign of the cross. The ash used for the Imposition of Ashes is generally made from burnt palm crosses of the previous year.

These are the words used for the Imposition of Ashes:

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ.

This is a moment I always find to be profoundly spiritual.

Have you decided to give something up for Lent? And will you be trying to take something up for Lent too? You still have a few hours before Lent begins to make a decision. But, of course, no-one would object if you began your Lenten discipline once Lent had started.

The Church of England will start daily tweets this Ash Wednesday for Lent, follow us and tell your friends: twitter.com/c_of_e

Now, where are those pancakes? They are, after all, traditional Shrove Tuesday fare. I like mine with lemon juice and sugar, lots of both.