Ash Wednesday to be celebrated

Written by Jessica Anne Lin, Communications Intern

The King’s community is welcome to attend the celebration of Ash Wednesday on March 6, 2019, in Christ the King Chapel at noon and again at 7:30 p.m. at the Chapel at Windermere on the Mount. Ash Wednesday is the first day of the Lenten season, which marks the beginning of a season of penance, fasting, and especially prayer.

Annette Donovan Panchaud, Campus Minister, explains the Lenten season as, “a period of renewal, a time we set aside in the liturgical year to pay particular attention to our relationship with God. We do this through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. This can mean different things for different people.”

Ash Wednesday is an important day for prayer, which takes many different forms such as personal and reflective. Catholics also begin fasting which can mean giving up a specific food or habit. It is also a time of Almsgiving to help those in need, and this may mean giving money to a church or giving of one's time to help others. The purpose of these three practices is to have a closer relationship with God.

Donovan Panchaud also explains the significance of Catholics having ashes placed on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday. “When the ashes are placed on our foreheads the minister says the words ‘turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel’ or ‘remember you are dust and unto dust, you shall return.’ That is what the ashes remind us of – a remembering of who we are, where we are going. We are finite. Our lives here on earth are limited but we have a direction and that direction is God. That is where we are ultimately headed – our lives are directed towards union with God.” The ashes are made from burning the blessed palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday celebration.

Christ the King University Parish has two masses on Ash Wednesday, the first is in Christ the King Chapel in Wemple at noon and the second is at the Chapel at Windermere on the Mount, 1486 Richmond St., London, at 7:30 p.m.

To learn more about Mass times and locations and other opportunities during Lent, please visit: https://www.kings.uwo.ca/campus-ministry/prayer-worship/mass-times-locations/