Ash Wednesday & The Lenten Season 

Dear St. Michael's Families, 

Wednesday, March 5, is Ash Wednesday. It begins the forty-day season of Lent, a more somber and reflective period in the year of the Christian Church where we prepare for the Paschal feast, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter. These forty days are in imitation of Christ’s fasting in the wilderness. For many, it is a time marked by particular disciplines of prayerful reflection and self-denial, what the earliest Christians called “a season of penitence and fasting.” The Church extends to all an invitation “to the observance of a holy Lent.”

Our Ash Wednesday service at St. Michael’s will include the imposition of ashes on the forehead for all who desire it, with a reminder that “we are dust, and to dust we shall return.”  For us, the gentle but profound wisdom of Ash Wednesday accentuates what the Swiss poet Henri Frédéric Amiel so eloquently said (and what we often hear at the close of chapel services): “Life is short, and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who are traveling the journey with us. So, be swift to love, and make haste to be kind.” 

Participation in this part of the Ash Wednesday service is completely voluntary. Those who simply want a blessing instead of the ashes will come forward with their arms crossed over their chests to indicate their preference. We will reiterate all of this at the beginning of the service.

As a school rooted in the Episcopal faith, it is appropriate for us to observe the significance of a new liturgical season in Chapel not only to reflect on what the imposition of ashes and beginning of Lent means in this particular tradition, but also to open ourselves, each of us—whether we are people of deep faith or none at all, Christians or not, Episcopalians or not— to what this could mean in our own lives. That is, how might God be inviting me to live my life? How can I draw nearer to the divine presence that I am never truly without? For many, the invitation to a holy Lent is an invitation to listen with greater attention for the still, small voice of God. We invite parents to talk with their children about their own faith traditions and beliefs in light of the Christian traditions surrounding Ash Wednesday. 

Please know that our pluralism is a hallmark of St. Michael’s mission; our school exists not only to promote educational excellence but to celebrate and honor the worth of every human being as the creation of a loving God.  Please be in touch if you have any questions about our Chapel program or if we can be helpful in any way to your family, particularly in the spiritual formation and religious education of your children.

Blessings,