[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.91″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”2px|0px|8px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Featured Image caption” _builder_version=”3.19.17″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px”]<\/p>\n
St. Joseph Catholic Church on Devine Street held a noon Mass for Ash Wednesday. Many in attendance were marked with ash crosses on their foreheads in preparation for the Lenten season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.92″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|37.9062px|0px” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|18.9531px|0px” custom_margin=”10px|||” _builder_version=”3.0.92″][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”3.19.17″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|”]<\/p>\n
On the corner of Greene and Assembly street\u00a0a pastor stood alone on the cold morning of Ash Wednesday\u00a0<\/span>next to a sign reading \u201cashes-to-go.\u201d<\/p>\n Within a few moments, students and faculty preparing to enter the Christian season of Lent approached the Rev. Robert Walker, who had donned pastoral robes\u00a0to mark their foreheads with ashes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is an opportunity to interact with students and faculty as they walk by and to easily give this dispensation of grace and start the Lenten season,\u201d said Walker, who is in his second year as pastor of the nearby Greene Street United Methodist Church.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lent, the period of reflection leading up to Easter in the Christian faith, is a time for penitence and a call for people to abstain \u00a0from a luxury, to mimic the sacrifice Jesus made for 40 days in the desert in the Christian Bible. The Lenten season lasts for 46 days with each Sunday serving as a \u201clittle Easter,\u201d according to Walker.<\/p>\n He added that the season is intended to be about more than\u00a0giving something up.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily just giving something up but you can take on a new spiritual practice, like 15 minutes of prayer or meditation or be committed to being a regular attender at services,\u201d Walker said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just a matter of punishing yourself or giving something up, it\u2019s a matter of seeking to be more spiritual.\u201d<\/p>\n The 46-day season has eight holy days leading up to Easter, including Palm Sunday and Good Friday. Easter, the highest celebration in the Christian community, is the final day of Lent and symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.<\/p>\n \u201cSo many people think that during Lent you have to be all somber and sad. Jesus said in the Gospel when you\u2019re practicing spirituality, when you\u2019re fasting, don\u2019t go out looking all gloomy, but rather refresh yourself and go out and keep your spiritual practices to yourself,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n Lent is most commonly observed in the Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist and Catholic churches.<\/p>\n Those who receive the cross of ashes are met with the words \u201cRemember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.\u201d<\/p>\n Msgr. Richard Harris, pastor of St. Joseph\u2019s Catholic Church, told the congregation in his noon day Lenten message that Lent is \u201cabout your inner self reaching out to touch a God that heals and redeems.\u201d \u00a0To him, Lent isn\u2019t about sacrifice, but instead about acknowledging one\u2019s inner sins and restoring a healthy relationship with God.<\/p>\n \u201cIt shows us through that smudge of a cross on our foreheads that we can and will rise again,\u201d Harris said. \u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 1″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/LentW_3.jpg”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 1″ _builder_version=”3.19.17″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n Rev. Walker spent the morning distributing ashes to students, faculty and anyone who walks by the church. This marks the start of the Lenten season.\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 2″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.92″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 3″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.0.92″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 4″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/LENT_GFX1-.jpg”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.91″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”2px|0px|8px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Featured Image caption” _builder_version=”3.19.17″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px”] St. Joseph Catholic Church on Devine Street held a noon Mass for Ash Wednesday. Many in attendance were marked with ash crosses on their foreheads in preparation for the Lenten season.\u00a0 [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.92″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|37.9062px|0px” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|18.9531px|0px” custom_margin=”10px|||” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":18872,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[39,1],"tags":[647,96,651,650,649,630,648],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18841"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18841"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19015,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18841\/revisions\/19015"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}