This liturgy of prayer and readings follows the service order for Ash Wednesday outlined in the Book of Common Prayer. Join us for this worship service that calls us to self-examination and invites us to practice a holy Lent in our daily lives.

What is the Imposition of Ashes and why do we do it? 

Ash Wednesday is named for the custom of placing blessed ashes on the foreheads of worshipers on the first of the forty days of Lent. The ashes are a sign of penitence and a reminder of our human frailty and mortality; they are most often imposed with the sign of the cross. It’s an invitation to make each day a new beginning, washed in God’s mercy and forgiveness. As God said to Adam, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” As we are marked with ashes on our foreheads in the same manner that we are signed with the cross at Baptism, we are reminded that we are marked as Christ’s own forever in a visible way.