SFX students receive ashes on Ash Wednesday as the season of Lent begins
During school Mass on Wednesday, Saint Francis Xavier (SFX) Catholic School students received ashes on their foreheads for Ash Wednesday, kicking off the season of Lent in the Church.
Lent is a special, solemn season in the Church’s liturgical year that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends forty days later on Holy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter Sunday.
As the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops explains:
“In Lent, the baptized are called to renew their baptismal commitment as others prepare to be baptized through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, a period of learning and discernment for individuals who have declared their desire to become Catholics.”
SFX students regularly attend mass on Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. in the church. Older students perform mass parts, such as reading the responsorial prayers and Sacred Scripture. Some are even altar servers and the SFX School Choir leads all attendees in song.
School Masses are always open to the public.
This week, Fr. Pachomius Alvarado-Garcia, known to the students as Father Paco, performed the Mass. He delivered a homily about the three “pillars” of Lent, which include fasting, prayer and almsgiving. Catholics use these pillars to bring new life to their faiths and prepare for the celebration of Christ’s resurrection on Easter.
On Ash Wednesday, Catholics attend Mass at their respective parish and receive ashes on their foreheads. Meanwhile, they hear the words “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” They typically wear the ashes for the rest of the day.
For Catholics, Ash Wednesday is also a day of fasting. When fasting, Catholics eat no more than one full meal a day and two smaller meals. They also abstain from meat. Young children, those suffering from certain physical or mental illnesses and pregnant and nursing women are not required to fast.
St. Francis Xavier Catholic School is an accredited classical Catholic PreK-8 school in Birmingham’s Crestline neighborhood that uses the time-tested Catholic Intellectual Tradition to form students in virtue through the pursuit of academic excellence and service toward God and neighbor.
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