Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent, a time for Christians to make personal sacrifices and give to the others.
Lent takes place over a 40-day period that began with Ash Wednesday. It’s meant as a time for Christians to replicate and honor the sacrifices made by Jesus Christ and the 40 days he spent in the desert leading up to his death on the cross.
For Father Dan Staublin at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Seymour, as with Christian around the world, Lent is a very important time.
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Click here to purchase photos from this gallery“For me, it’s a period of preparation,” he said. “It’s like with anything when you’re preparing for something, we’re preparing for something good. Well, sometimes, the preparation isn’t easy to do, but it helps us get there.
“So the preparation of Lent, preparing ourselves to celebrate Easter, preparing ourselves for the next life is not always easy, but it’s good, and when it comes from God, you know, Jesus is the example,” he said. “Jesus set the example, so we want to follow Jesus’ example.”
Staublin said he has begun to notice a trend among the congregation at St. Ambrose about giving up social media because they’re on Facebook all of the time.
He chooses to stick with tradition for Lent while attempting to give back.
“Well, I try to follow the rules of abstinence, no meat on Fridays during Lent,” Staublin said. “What I try to do personally is I try to give back a little more. Maybe I’ll write a note to someone that I normally wouldn’t have.”
On Ash Wednesday, many of the faithful line up for their priest or a deacon to spread ashes on their forehead in the shape of a cross.
As the priest or deacon does this, they will either say “Repent and believe in the Gospel” or “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”
In regards to the symbolism of Ash Wednesday, Staublin said the cross is a sign of our faith.
“In the Catholic tradition, we’re always making the sign of a cross for our prayers whenever we come into the church,” Staublin said. “It’s just a visible sign of our faith. The ashes remind us of mortality. They come from the burnt palms the previous Palm Sunday. We recycle in the Catholic church. It’s just a mark to remind us who we are, that we’re always under the cross as Christians.”
Staublin also spoke about the meaning behind the phrases used during the spread of ashes.
“It reminds us as Christians the path we’re supposed to walk, to turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel,” he said.
During Lent, Christians will sacrifice something of their own. For some, this means fasting and abstinence. For others, it means giving up their favorite food.
One member of the church, Madonna Barr, chooses to play it by the book when it comes to Lent.
“I’m going to follow this book here,” she said while pointing to a Bible in her hand after Wednesday’s service.
“This book has masses for every day of Lent, and you can read the reading in here,” she said. “Also in here too, you can make a spiritual communion for each one. I want to do that for Lent.”
She also shared why Lent is particularly important for her.
“It’s really wonderful that we have Lent so amidst all the things we are worried about and have to take care of, we stop and think, ‘Where is our real home?’” she said. “It’s really not here. We need to be living so that we can go and live with our Lord for eternity. It’s really important.”
Staublin said a lot of times, people will give up candy or soda during Lent.
“A practice they do a lot of to kind of say, ‘I’m abstaining from that during Lent,’” he said. “Then when we do that, though, we aren’t supposed to just abstain from it. We’re supposed to maybe take it into a prayer. Like normally, I’d have a Coke today, but instead, I’ll say a prayer for somebody.”