Lent Starts Today

Ash Wednesday. Start of Lent, and days of repentance, in preparation for Easter.

A short history of Ash Wednesday, and what it stands for, courtesy of Wikipedia :)

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and occurs forty-six days (forty days not counting Sundays) before Easter.

Well, no WONDER we always count it as more than 40 days of sacrifice! LOL! See what a little bit of research can do? We definitely learn more everyday! I never knew that we shouldn't count Sundays as part of the 40 days of Lent! Hmmmm...

Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of the faithful as a sign of repentance.

At masses on this day, ashes are imposed on the foreheads of the faithful. The priest marks the forehead of each participant with black ashes in the shape of a cross, which the worshipper traditionally retains until washing it off after sundown. The priest or minister says one of the following when applying the ashes:

Remember, O man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return - Genesis 3:19

Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel. - Mark 1:15

Repent, and hear the good news. - Mark 1: 15

We attended mass at the office, where Father Al of PACEM said mass. Then it was a relatively light lunch, since we all mark the day with fasting and abstinence.

What are we giving up this year?

Japa - just fruits and protein during the weel
Me - no beef or pork and no really bad swear words (trust me, this is sooooo hard for me!)
Ate - no rice at dinner
Kuya - not doing bad things (this is from him. We'll see how it holds, lol!)
Dete - No seconds (rice) at all meals
Ranger - well, he's a baby, so he doesn't understand the concept yet.

Technically, the kids don't have to do anything since they're all underage for fasting and abstinence, but we did give them a choice if they wanted to do some form of sacrifice or not, and they all chose to do something. So that's good :)