Today is Ash Wednesday and marks the beginning of the season of Lent. Lent lasts for forty days. Sundays are not counted in the forty days. Lent ends on Holy Thursday.
On Ash Wednesday we go to Mass and are marked with a Sign of the Cross made with ashes. The ashes are made from burning the blessed palms used on Palm Sunday last year. The ashes are then mixed with Holy Water.
Ash Wednesday is a fast day. Fasting means that we eat only one full meal in a day, with no food in between meals. We can have two other small meals during the day. We are also asked not to eat meat as part of our meal on this day. The fasting rule is for those aged between eighteen and fifty nine. Those aged fourteen and above are asked not to eat meat.
MAKING MORE SPACE FOR GOD THIS LENT
In Lent we are all asked to make more space for God in our lives. We can do this in different ways by
- PRAY: Promising to spend more time with God in prayer
- DO: Showing how much we love God by doing something extra or giving up something that we like
- ACT: Thinking of ways to help people less fortunate than us have a life of opportunity
