Day One - Ash Wednesday

Today's Reflection

by Hannah Blosser

Today we celebrate Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. On this day, the priest marks our foreheads with blessed ashes, which are a traditional sign of penitence. As the priest places the ashes onto our heads, he says, “Remember, man, that thou are dust, and to dust thou shalt return.” This is a reminder that during the penitential season of Lent, we are to remember our own mortality. When God created Adam, He formed him out of clay. When Adam sinned, death came into the world, and so man, made from dust, will one day return to dust.

This reminder of our mortality also reflects our need to repent and return to God, so that when our time comes to die, we are prepared to enter into Eternal Life. For centuries, the traditional form of public penance was to dress in sackcloth and cover one’s head in ashes.  On Ash Wednesday, we imitate this form of penance by receiving a cross-shaped mark of ashes on our foreheads. This prepares us for the season of Lent, during which we pray and do penance in order to draw closer to God.

Different forms of penance are practiced during Lent. The most common is the act of fasting from food, or abstaining from certain things (such as desserts, meat, or even social media). Fasting is difficult, but we use it as an opportunity to offer up our suffering for those most in need of prayer.  As pro-lifers, perhaps we may offer up our sufferings this Lent for the unborn, for women contemplating abortion, and for those working in the abortion industry.

As we enter this Lenten season, may we be filled with zeal and joy, looking forward to Our Lord’s Resurrection on Easter Sunday. And may we take this opportunity to offer up our sacrifices for those who are in most need of prayer and God’s mercy.

Here is a prayer to be said in front of a crucifix, to remind us of the reason we do penance during Lent:

Prayer Before the Crucifix
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus

While I before your face humbly kneel and,

With burning soul,

Pray and beseech You

To fix deep in my heart lively sentiments

Of faith, hope, and charity;

True contrition for my sins,

And a firm purpose of amendment.

While I contemplate,

With great love and tender pity,

Your five most precious wounds,

Pondering over them within me

And calling to mind the words which David,

Your prophet, said to You, my Jesus:

“They have pierced My hands and My feet,

They have numbered all My bones.”

Amen.