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Monday 2 February 2015

Ash Wednesday - February 18th

 
 
Holy Communion
8.00pm, Nether Winchendon

This day marks the first day of Lent. At the service, ashes from last year’s Palm Crosses, which have been burnt, are gently put on the forehead in the sign of a cross (only for those who wish it). Ashes are a very ancient symbol of penitence. They also remind us of our mortality; that the end of our human journey is the dust of death.  We have all, in the words of the Prayer Book, ‘erred and strayed like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things we ought to have done and have done those things which we ought not to have done’. Penitence involves a change of heart and a turning again towards God in whom alone is our healing and our wholeness.