Making Ashes for Lent

At Saint Justin’s Roman Catholic Church on Fischer Boulevard and elsewhere, preparation for the Lenten season means starting a fire.

Deacon Rick Napolitano said each year church patrons bring last year’s palms from  Palm Sunday masses, and the palms are burned to make the ashes used for Ash Wednesday.

“It’s a little bonfire outside, to create the ashes,” Napolitano said. “We go back inside afterward for something for the children – a puppet show and some ice cream.”

The Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday event marks the last day before Lent for churchgoers at St. Justin, as Roman Catholics everywhere prepare for Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday begins with repentance and is often observed by fasting from certain foods.

Masses that day conclude with the tradition of making a sign of the cross on the foreheads of churchgoers, leaving ashes there.

Ash Wednesday falls 44 days from the holy day of Easter Sunday marking the resurrection of Jesus.

While the evening was both an observance of the coming holy season, it aimed to provide children with some fun and was held with the help of the St. Justin’s religious education department, Napolitano said.

The event began 5:30 with a short prayer service, and the activities ended by 7 p.m.

“It’s a school night,” Napolitano said, “so we’re mindful of that.”