Jesus in the Garden Praying

 Jesus Has Risen

 Ash Wednesday services

The service draws on the ancient Biblical traditions of covering one's head with ashes, wearing sackcloth, and fasting.

The mark of ashes

In Ash Wednesday services churchgoers are marked on the forehead with a cross of ashes as a sign of penitence and mortality.

The use of ashes, made by burning palm crosses from the previous Palm Sunday, is very symbolic.

God our Father, you create us from the dust of the earth.

Grant that these ashes may be for us a sign of our penitence, and a symbol of our mortality.

The minister or priest marks each worshipper on the forehead, and says remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return, or a similar phrase based on God's sentence on Adam in Genesis 3:19.

The modern practice in Roman Catholic churches nowadays, as the ashes are being administered, is for the priest to say something like Turn away from sin and believe the gospel.

Keeping the mark

At some churches the worshippers leave with the mark still on their forehead so that they carry the sign of the cross out into the world.

At other churches the service ends with the ashes being washed off as a sign that the participants have been cleansed of their sins.

Symbolism of the ashes

The marking of their forehead with a cross made of ashes reminds each churchgoer that:

• Death comes to everyone
• They should be sad for their sins
• They must change themselves for the better
• God made the first human being by breathing life into dust, and without God, human beings are nothing more than dust and ashes

The shape of the mark and the words used are symbolic in other ways:

• The cross is a reminder of the mark of the cross made at baptism
• The phrase often used when the ashes are administered reminds Christians of the doctrine of original sin
• The cross of ashes may symbolise the way Christ's sacrifice on the cross as atonement for sin replaces the Old Testament tradition of making burnt offerings to atone for sin.

Where the ashes come from

The ashes used on Ash Wednesday are made by burning the palm crosses that were blessed on the previous Palm Sunday.

Ashes and oil

The ash is sometimes mixed with anointing oil, which makes sure that the ashes make a good mark.

The use of anointing oil also reminds the churchgoer of God's blessings and of the anointing that took place at their baptism.

From Palm Sunday to Ash Wednesday

Palm Sunday celebrates Jesus's triumphant entry into Jerusalem, so when the crosses used in the Palm Sunday service are converted to ashes, the worshippers are reminded that defeat and crucifixion swiftly followed triumph.

But using the ashes to mark the cross on the believer's forehead symbolises that through Christ's death and resurrection, all Christians can be free from sin.

St Paul's Ash Wednesday  service is Wednesday 6th February at 7.00pm.  All are welcome. Thank you and God Bless.

EASTER DAY

St John (20:1-9)

Early in the morning on the fisrt day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb.  She saw that the stone had been moved away, so she ran off to Simon Peter and the other disiples (the ones Jesus loved) and told them, "The lord has been taken from the tomb!  We don't know where they have put him!"  At that, Peter and the other disciples started out on  their way toward the tomb.  They were running side by side, but then the otherdisciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.   He did not enter but bent down to peer in, and saw the wrappings lying on the ground.  Presently, Simon Peter came along behind him and entered the tomb. He observed the wrappings on the ground and saw the piece of cloth which had covered the head not lying with the wrappings, but rolledup in a place by itself.  Then the desciple who had arrived first at the tomb went in. He saw and believed.  (Remember, as yet they did not understand the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from th dead.)

With thanks to Mary, Keith and Bev for all the hard work they put into this beautiful Easter Garden.

The Veneration of the Cross

In the seventh century, the Church in Rome adopted the practice of Adoration of the Cross from the Church in Jerusalem, where a fragment of wood believed to be the Lord's cross had been venerated every year on Good Friday since the fourth century. According to tradition, a part of the Holy Cross was discovered by the mother of the emperor Constantine, Saint Helen, on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 326. A fifth century account describes this service in Jerusalem. A coffer of gold-plated silver containing the wood of the cross was brought forward. The bishop placed the relic on the a table in the chapel of the Crucifixion and the faithful approached it, touching brow and eyes and lips to the wood as the priest said (as every priest has done ever since): "Behold, the Wood of the Cross".

Adoration or veneration of an image or representation of Christ's cross does not mean that we are actually adoring the material image, of course, but rather what it represents. In kneeling before the crucifix and kissing it we are paying the highest honor to the our Lord's cross as the instrument of our salvation. Because the Cross is inseparable from His sacrifice, in reverencing His Cross we are, in effect, adoring Christ. Thus we affirm: "We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee because by Thy Holy Cross Thou has Redeemed the World".

Luke 22:14-30

When the hour came, Jesus took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!" Then they began to ask one another, which one of them it could be who would do this.

A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. But he said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

"You are those who have stood by me in my trials; and I confer on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

There will be a service Today at St Pauls Church Barry at 7.00pm until 8.00pm.

PALM SUNDAY

The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, where he was tempted by the devil. During that time he ate nothing, and at the end of it he was hungry.  The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to turn into bread". Jesus answered him," Scripture has it, "Not on bread alone shall man live."  Then the devil took him higher and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. He said to him, " I will give you all this power and of these kingdoms; the power has been given to me and I give it to whomever I wish.  Prostrate yourself in homage before me, and it shall all be yours".  In reply Jesus said to him " Scripture has it, you shall do homage to the Lord your God; him alone shall you adore."  Then the devil led him to Jerusalem, set him on the parapet of the temple,and said to him,"If you are the son of God, throw yourself down from here, for Scripture has it, he will bid his angels watch over you; and again with their hands they will support you that you may never stumble on a stone". Jesus said to him in reply, " It also says, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test". When the devil had finished all the tempting he left him, to await another opportunity.

ASH WEDNESDAY

WHAT IS ASH WEDNESDAY?

Ash Wednesday is a day of penitence to clean the soul before the Lent fast. Christians use ash as a symbol of being sorry for things they have done wrong and want to get rid of forever.

WHY IS IT CALLED ASH WEDNESDAY?

Ashes are something that are left when something is burned. Ashes were used in the past as a symbol of being sorry. Christians rubbed ashes on their foreheads. They wanted to show God that they were sorry for the wrong things they had done in the past year.

WHAT HAPPENS ON ASH WEDNESDAY TODAY?

Some Christians have a tiny smudge of ashes put on their foreheads as a sign of sorrow at not having been good over the last year.

WHAT ARE THE ASHES MADE FROM?

In churches the priest first burns the palm crosses that have been kept from last year's Palm Sunday and then mixes the ashes of these crosses with holy water (which has been blessed) to make a greyish paste. When people go to church on Ash Wednesday, the priest dips his thumb in the paste and uses it to make the sign of the cross on each person's forehead.

WHY ARE LAST YEARS PALM CROSSES RECYCLED?

Palm Sunday celebrates Jesus's triumphant entry into Jerusalem, so when the crosses used in the last years Palm Sunday service are converted to ashes, worshippers are reminded that defeat and crucifixion swiftly followed triumph.

WHAT DO THE ASHES SYMBOLISE?

Using ashes to mark the cross on the believer's forehead symbolises that through Christ's death and resurrection, all Christians can be free from sin.

Ash Wednesday service 7pm today at St. Paul's church Barry.