Ashes placed on the head(forehead), the seat of pride, to remind of us of our mortality. Wearing the ashes symbolize our penance, contrition, and humility.
"for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return"
We wait for Easter, taking the 40 day journey of the soul through the desert with Jesus, in sadness for our mortality, but joyful of the gift of everlasting life. In and through Jesus we rise from the ashes through the open door of heaven, the veil having been lifted.
More here with classic art work.
Repost from last year.
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2 comments:
Beautiful. Thank you for sharing this. What are you doing to commemorate Lent in your home, if you don't mind me asking?
We've always done interior spiritual works with readings, films, and mass. Other than that, we don't do anything special. We continue to do penance and almsgiving, and try to remember to fast and obstain from meat on Fridays and other days of obligation. In our family it's a very personal interior journey.
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