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Christians across the Bay Area on Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent, the 40-day season focused on repentance, fasting and reflection through self-restraint.
The time of year begins on the Wednesday that falls 46 days before Easter Sunday, the holiday marking the resurrection of Jesus, the Christian prophet.
Members of the clergy place ashes from palm trees burned on the previous Palm Sunday on the foreheads of parishioners in ceremonies that typically include sermons on the prophet’s time in the wilderness, where he fasted and where Satan tempted him. On Palm Sunday, churches bless and hand out palm branches to attendees, a reference to biblical accounts of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, when onlookers lay palm branches on his path, according to Christianity.com.
The ashes of this holiday symbolize two main things: death and repentance. “Ashes are equivalent to dust, and human flesh is composed of dust or clay (Genesis 2:7), and when a human corpse decomposes, it returns to dust or ash.”
Lent asks believers to set aside a time each year for similar fasting, marking an intentional season of focus on Christ’s life, ministry, sacrifice, and resurrection, according to Christianity.com.
As many other public gatherings have been altered during the COVID-19 pandemic, a deacon sprinkled ashes on worshippers’ heads in at least one South Bay ceremony held outdoors to abide health guidelines avoid the physical contact of ceremonies past:
MENLO PARK
One indoor gathering the East Bay kept the tradition of rubbing ashes on foreheads and instead limited the amount of attendees to 100.
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