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Fr.McDonagh and Canon Peyton visited the school today to distribute ashes marking Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. On this day, Christians begin their Lenten journey to Easter. It is one of two fast days in the church year. On Ash Wednesday the priest blesses the ashes. These
ashes are made from the palms which were blessed on Palm Sunday last year. Ash Wednesday is not a Holy Day of Obligation but many people attend church on this day to be marked with the sign
of the cross. Ashes are an ancient symbol of repentance; penitents wore ‘sackcloth and ashes’ to show that they were in need of forgiveness and that term is still in common usage today. Ashes also remind us that our life on earth will come to an end and that our eternal life with God will then begin. This is what we believe happens in baptism and so the beginning of our Lenten journey is inextricably linked to our baptismal journey. The sign of the cross is made as the ashes are put on our foreheads.
The priest or the minister says ‘Repent, and believe in the Gospel,’ or similar words. (Source : www.kandle.ie)