SHILLONG/TURA: Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the holy season of Lent in the Christian calendar, was observed in churches across the state.
Churches in Shillong witnessed a huge gathering of faithful seeking blessings at the beginning of the 46 days before Easter.
Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and was observed by many western Christians, particularly Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists and Presbyterians. It occurs 46 days (40 days of fasting and six Sundays when fasting does not take place) before Easter.
In Tura, priests at the Sacred Heart shrine in Chandmari, the Cathedral church on RC Road, St Mary’s Church at Araimile, St Luke Church at Dakopgre and the Montfort Church blessed hundreds of worshippers during the morning and the evening services.
According to the New Testament in the Holy Bible, Jesus Christ spent 40 days fasting in the desert where he endured temptation by Satan. Lent originated as a mirroring of this, fasting 40 days as preparation for Easter, while Sundays were commemoration of Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of blessing ashes made from palm branches blessed on the previous year’s Palm Sunday. The ash is rubbed on the foreheads of devotees with a cross sign to the accompaniment of the words “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” or “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return”.
