Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the forty days of Lent, wherein Christians commit to a season of fasting, restraint, and repentance as we walk those forty days in step with Christ toward his crucifixion and, ultimately, his resurrection. These forty days recall the forty days Christ spent in the wilderness after his baptism, as well as the wandering of the ancient Jews in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt. It is a time to put ourselves aside and to seek after God with singular focus.

At St. Anne's, Ash Wednesday is celebrated each year with a Solemn Eucharist at 6 p.m. During this service, the people are invited to the observance of a holy Lent, and the priest makes the sign of the cross with ashes on each person's head, saying, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." To one unfamiliar with the custom, it can seem stark and morbid, but to us it is a promise. It is a promise that while our lives are uncertain and our origins humble, it was God alone who formed us from the dust of the ground, and it is God alone who is our hope and our salvation.

Come and join us on Ash Wednesday, and walk with us as we begin our Lenten journey toward the very heart of Christ.