Ash Wednesday

This week at Downside the School and Monastic Community celebrated Mass together to mark Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, and marks the start of the Church’s annual preparation for Easter. Here are a few ways in which we can prepare for Easter during Lent:

• The traditional things that Christians do during Lent are prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
• We fast in order to say no to our selfishness, to be more sensitive to others and to build up the inner strength we need to fight temptation in our lives. Fasting is not about giving up food and sweets only, but the bad habits that make life poorer for ourselves as well as others. 
• Prayer is essential for Christians because we need to open our hearts and minds to God, and God leads us to be more aware of others. Lent is a good time to feed our spiritual life by reading, especially the Bible. 
• Almsgiving, the giving of our time, talents or money, to help others in need, is how we show our sensitivity to others. It is putting our faith into action and generosity helps us grow in love and appreciation of others. 

We have launched the programme for the 2017 Easter Retreat, and we would be delighted to welcome you to join the Monastic Community in celebrating Holy Week. Click here to learn more.