Idaho Falls Catholics commemorate Ash Wednesday
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – Hundreds of Catholics gathered today at Holy Rosary and Christ the King churches in a spirit of penance to celebrate Ash Wednesday.
“Ash Wednesday is really the the kickoff to Lent," said Valerie Finnigan, an Idaho Falls Catholic. "... We're all to come together in sackcloth and ashes.”
Catholic priests placed a cross of ashes on the forehead of each worshipper at Mass on Wednesday.
The ashes symbolize a spirit of repentance and contrition as Catholics prepare to voluntarily give up bad habits or practices during the 40-day period of Lent.
“Each of us does much good in life, but we must not not hide our sin behind the good we try to do,” said Father Aleksander Dembowski, of the Pope Saint John Paul II Catholic Parish.
Lent symbolizes the 40 days Jesus Christ fasted in the wilderness, as recounted in the New Testament.
“Lent is a time that we fast and pray and wait for God's coming until we celebrate God's coming to us," said Inga Landers, a Catholic girl from Idaho Falls. "What Lent means to me is it basically means that we're in a time that we love God even more, because He's going to die on the cross for us and take away our sins and save the world from all eternity evil.”
Catholics frequently abstain from meat, except fish, on Fridays during the period leading up to Good Friday, on April 3.
They will also celebrate the Stations of the Cross, commemorating specific moments in Jesus Christ’s life between his condemnation, crucifixion, and burial.
