The Bidding of Ash Wednesday

THE BIDDING OF ASH WEDNESDAY DEAR PEOPLE OF GOD !

The first followers of Jesus observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism.

It was also a time when those who, because of NOTORIOUS ! sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church.

Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to RENEW their repentance and faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent,
by self-examination and repentance;
by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and
by reading and meditating on God's holy Word ...

Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth: Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, that we may remember that it is only by your gracious gift that we are given everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return ...