Ash Wednesday

That is very kind of you and I'm sure involves great sacrifice on your part.

Quote: FrGamble

That is very kind of you and I'm sure involves great sacrifice on your part.

Hope the rest of Ash Wed went good for you, Padre. Probably the second most somber day for the church all year.

Quote: FrGamble

That is very kind of you and I'm sure involves great sacrifice on your part.

Not really, atheists pity the clergy on religious
holidays. All that work for no apparent reason.

Ash Wednesday is yet another tradition
stolen from the pagans. It was in honor
of the Norse god Odin, who the day
of the week Wednesday is named after.
Smearing ash on the forehead gave you
the protection of Odin.

Evenbob there is absolutely no connection between Ash Wednesday and Odin or other pagan practices. I think I have finally found the source of a lot of the misconceptions and falsehoods you have been told. A man named Alexander Hislop, who hated the Catholic Church had a practice of making up myths in order to discredit the practices of the Church. A lot of what you have said on this forum in regards to the origins of Christianity actually come from his lies and made up stories. You can read more about it here:

Pagan lies about Ash Wednesday

"Many websites claim that the use of ashes on Ash Wednesday comes from pagan sources.
The ironic thing is that these websites cannot get their own stories straight. Some people assert that the ashes and Lent come from Nordic Odin worship, others that they come from pagan Roman cults, others that they come from ancient Hindu religions-and some try to maintain irrational combinations of the above very different imagined sources.
But ashes for Ash Wednesday do not come from any of these sources. The practice of believers using ashes to represent sorrow and repentance is well testified in the Bible. In the ancient world it was the natural formal response of those who are sorry for their sins:"

Quote: AZDuffman

Hope the rest of Ash Wed went good for you, Padre. Probably the second most somber day for the church all year.

Thanks brother, it is hard to be somber when I get to see so many people at Church today and all of them with the hope of a new beginning to their pursuit to love God and others as Lent starts.

Quote: FrGamble

Thanks brother, it is hard to be somber when I get to see so many people at Church today and all of them with the hope of a new beginning to their pursuit to love God and others as Lent starts.

Speaking of Lent, I was going to ask this later, but when does Lent "end." I know it is a kind of prep for Easter and IIRC mimics the 40 days time Jesus was in the desert being tempted by the devil. But I have always heard differing times on the end. Easter morning? 11:59 Good Friday?

FWIW even though I have drifted to non-practice for some reason as I got older I felt the obligation to keep up the meat-free requirement.

Quote: AZDuffman

Speaking of Lent, I was going to ask this later, but when does Lent "end." I know it is a kind of prep for Easter and IIRC mimics the 40 days time Jesus was in the desert being tempted by the devil. But I have always heard differing times on the end. Easter morning? 11:59 Good Friday?

My understanding is that Lent ends on Easter morning. It is forty days from Ash Wednesday not counting the Sundays. Holy Week is just like Lent on steroids for that last week of Lent.

Quote:

FWIW even though I have drifted to non-practice for some reason as I got older I felt the obligation to keep up the meat-free requirement.

You are not alone. Ash Wednesday is the biggest feast day for young adults. I think we all like challenging ourselves to be better and to offer something up as a type of discipline. I hope you have a very blessed Lent!

Quote: FrGamble

My understanding is that Lent ends on Easter morning. It is forty days from Ash Wednesday not counting the Sundays. Holy Week is just like Lent on steroids for that last week of Lent.

I thought so, but also thought you may have said that Saturday was some sort of common time not quite Lent but not at all Easter.

As an altar boy the end of Holy Week was weird for the Eucharist just on the big table in back with two candles flanking it. I forget if it went back after the GF service or not, but it was all right below many items needed for Mass and right where we would normally set things up.

Quote:

You are not alone. Ash Wednesday is the biggest feast day for young adults. I think we all like challenging ourselves to be better and to offer something up as a type of discipline. I hope you have a very blessed Lent!

You nailed that one right! And you as well.

Quote: FrGamble

Evenbob there is absolutely no connection between Ash Wednesday and

And there is no mention of Lent or Ash
Wednesday in the Bible. It's more made
up gobblygook, who really knows where
it came from. The Church stole many pagan
rites and rituals, why not the ritual of marking
the forehead with ash.

Quote: Evenbob

And there is no mention of Lent or Ash
Wednesday in the Bible.

There is no mention of pews either. Lent means spring and it reminds us of the 40 days the Lord spent in the desert before His public ministry. It is an annual retreat like time for the Church to strengthen our relationship with God and get stronger in our resistance to temptation.