Remember we are but dust,
and to dust we shall return.

Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, in our church year.

Lent is a time of preparation, remembering Christ’s time in the ‘wilderness’, when he was alone and tempted each day by the Devil, which he resisted. During Lent, many Christian’s also choose to give up something that might be a temptation and/or difficult to do, to honour Christ and enter into his journey.

In preparation for this time, the old palm crosses from last year are collected, burnt, ground up and mixed with Chrism oil, then used in the Ash Wednesday services to mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross as followers of Jesus Christ.