Wednesday, March 5th is Ash Wednesday, but the faithful who don’t have time for church can get their ashes on the go tomorrow. Calvary Episcopal Church will be taking their ashes to the street, specifically along Main Street downtown, at noon.
Members of the parish will walk along Main, offering a cross-shaped smear of ashes on the forehead to anyone who wants one. Typically, one would have to attend an hour-plus liturgy at church on Ash Wednesday to experience the Imposition of Ashes, a Lenten kick-off tradition.
“Ashes to Go is about sharing one of the most sacramentally potent moments of the year with our friends and neighbors in downtown Memphis.” said the Rev. Chris Girata, rector of Calvary Episcopal Church, who is leading the initiative. “Ash Wednesday is about remembering our mortality, but it is also about reconnecting with God and growing closer to God in the season of Lent. Lent is a time of love unconditionally offered, not guilt imposed, and we hope to impress that love on the friends and strangers we will meet with Ashes to Go.”
