Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.
I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.
— The Book of Common Prayer, page 624
Ashes to Go will be distributed on the Maple Street Driveway of the church from 7-9AM and again from 5-6PM on Ash Wednesday, February 14.
All who are able are welcome to join us during the lunch hour for the Ash Wednesday Liturgy. Our Holy Eucharist service with the imposition of the ashes will begin at 12:10PM. All are welcome!!
Saint Matthias' Episcopal Church 