Ash Wednesday: Beginning our Lenten journey

Ashes service today at 9:00 AM; Masses at noon and 7:00 PM

You thumbed grit

into my furrowed brow,

marking me

with the sign of mortality,

with the dust of last year’s palms.

The cross you traced

seared smudged skin,

and I recalled

other ashes

etched

into my heart

by those who loved too little

or not at all.

A poem by Elizabeth-Anne Vanek