Lenten season ushered in with Ash Wednesday services in Onaway

Ash Wednesday was celebrated in the Onaway area with the commencement of the season of Lent. At St. Paul Catholic Church in Onaway, 300 parishioners took part in the annual ritual. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the 40-day period of Lent, wherein some people fast from all meat and animal products such as milk. “So, it reminds us to pursue the spiritual life.” On Ash Wednesday in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other churches, ash is mixed with oil and is used to draw a cross on the forehead. This is regarded as a symbol of penance as ashes are used in this manner in the Bible by Job, Daniel, and others.

IN OLDEN DAYS, the fast was rigorous, wherein nothing was eaten except fruits and bread. However, it has become less so with even some Christians fasting only on Ash Wednesday, and Good Friday and Easter. “Fasting is not as prevalent or popular as it was years ago, but again it enables us to grow spiritually in our lives as we grow closer to God,” said Dominiak.

It is traditional to engage in self-denial during the six-and-a-half week period leading up to Easter, Christianity’s holiest day. “The three traditional observances of Lent are prayer, fasting, or self denial,” Dominiak said. “So, we’re all encouraged to do that during Lent in order to practice a form of greater spirituality in preparation for Easter.”

THE OBSERVANCE of a penitential period in preparation for the celebration of Easter dates back at least to the fourth century. Originally, the period – 40 days, not counting Sundays – was set aside particularly for converts to prepare for their baptism at Easter. Eventually, all church members join

ed in, demonstrating their repentance of their sins with intense introspection and self-denial.

Early Christians abstained from meat, milk, eggs and fat during the entire period – except Sundays, which are always feast days in observance of Christ’s Resurrection. Even after that requirement eased, many Christians voluntarily gave up eating something pleasurable during the period.

The ban on pleasure was so strict in the early years that in some areas Christians engaged in a huge bacchanal or carnival the day before Ash Wednesday, which came to be known as Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras.

Good Friday is March 25, with Easter to be celebrated on the 27th.