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Lenten Season's A Time For Reflection And Prayer
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Lent-A time for reflection and prayer:
By KARAN MINNIS,Guardian Lifestyles Reporter,
Nassau, Bahamas:



We should all remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return," says Father David Cooper, priest at St. Michael's Catholic Church, West End, Grand Bahama, as Catholics began the start of their Lenten season yesterday on Ash Wednesday.

"On this day all the faithful according to ancient custom are exhorted to approach the altar before the beginning of Mass, and there the priest, dipping his thumb into ashes previously blessed, marks the forehead of each the sign of the cross, saying the words: 'Remember man that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return,'" explains Father Cooper.

The ashes used in this ceremony are made by burning the remains of the palms blessed on the Palm Sunday of the previous year. In the blessing of the ashes four prayers are used, all of them ancient. The ashes are sprinkled with holy water and fumigated with incense.

Adding that the celebrant himself, be the bishop or cardinal, receives the ashes from some other priest, usually the highest in dignity of those present, Father Cooper said that in earlier ages a penitential procession often followed the rite of the distribution of the ashes, but this is not now prescribed.

"There can be no doubt that the custom of distributing the ashes to all the faithful arose from a devotional imitation of the practice observed in the case of public penitents," he said. "But this devotional usage, the reception of a sacramental which is full of the symbolism of penance is of earlier date than was formerly supposed."

Yesterday Ash Wednesday services were held throughout the Bahamas in various Catholic and Anglican churches and schools.

"Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent," explains the Venerable J. Ranfurly Brown of St. Agnes Anglican Church. "However it is also the start of a chain of events and practices that invokes our entire Lenten Season."

Lent in most Christian denominations, is the 40-day liturgical season of fasting and prayer before Easter which represents the time Jesus spent in the desert, where he endured temptation by Satan.

It is understood to be a special time in the church as it "reconnects" you with the Lord.

"The purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer through prayer, penitence, giving and self-denial, for the ascension of Jesus, as celebrated during Holy Week," adds Father Brown. "And Holy Week recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ."

This period is said to be symbolic of the 40 days spent by Jesus in the desert. However, according to Brown, the number 40 has many other Biblical significances.

"Some are the 40 days Moses spent on Mount Sinai with God; the 40 days and nights Elijah spent walking to Mount Horeb; and God made it rain for 40 days and 40 nights in the days of Noah."

Adding that Lent is the major repentance period for the church, Father Cooper says Lent is also time for change.

"The Church, puts in place certain programs that assist members particularly in their spirituality, as Lent is a time for reflection, it's a time for prayer, and it's a time for some serious withdrawal from your regular routine of life. That principle is based on the fact that Jesus before his ministry went into the wilderness; he pulled away from his regular routine for prayer and meditation; so basically that's what we do."

The Lenten season is taken very seriously by devout Catholics and Anglicans, and commences a time of both sacrifice and prayer.

"Other than that we have the whole meditation on the Passion of Jesus at the Stations of the Cross but basically the Lent discipline focuses on relationships, your relationship with God and your family," he adds.

"Christianity deals with relationships, how you deal with people and how you live with God. So on one half of the season you focus on your relationship with man and then the second half deals with your relationship with God."

This year, Lent will run from Wednesday, Feb. 6 to Saturday, March 22, known as Holy Saturday.

At world-wide masses, ashes were imposed on the foreheads of the "faithful". The priest marked the forehead of each participant with black ashes, in the shape of a cross, which the worshiper traditionally retains until washing it off after sundown.

February 7, 2008 | 4:25 PM Comments  0 comments

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