TEAM HERALD
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PANJIM: Ash Wednesday was observed by Catholics in the State to mark the beginning of the Season of Lent ~ a period of austerity, penance and repentance from sin.
On this first day of Lent that occurs some 46 days before Easter, priests inscribe ash on the foreheads of the faithful, at the Holy Mass, as a reminder of human mortality, and a sign of repentance. The passages from Genesis 3:19, “Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return” and Mark 1:15 “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel,” encapsulate the mood of the season.
The ashes used are normally gathered from the burning of the palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday.
The little over 40 days period of austerity, prayer and penance, is symbolic of the New Testament narration of Jesus having spent 40 days fasting and praying in the desert, where he was tempted by Satan.
Using ashes to mark the cross on the forehead symbolises that through Christ’s death on the cross and the subsequent resurrection, Christians were freed from sin. On every Friday during the Lenten season, Christians participate in the Way of the Cross, to commemorate Christ carrying the Cross to Calvary before he was crucified and killed. Easter marks the triumphant rising of Jesus from the dead.
