St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-02-27
LENTEN SEASON BEGINS.
Something About the Origin
Of This Period Of Devo-
ton.
OPENS WITH USE OF ASHES
AS a Mark Of Penitence--
Ends With Anniversary
Of Resurrection.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the be-
ginning of the Lenten season, whlch
is observed to a greater or less eA-
tent by most of the CHRISTIAN
churches now, but especially by the
Catholic church, as a season OF last
ing and devotion. For ages before
the beginning of the Christian era
the Jews had observed certain result
val days in the year, and the feastS
that ordinarily took place on these
DAVIS were usually preceded by last
ing for a greater or less length on
time. according to the Importance
of the feast. One of these feStlVali
was known as the passover, when
took place on the fourteenth day OF
the first month in the ecclesiastical
or lunar year, bringing it about the
same time as the Easter Sunday OF
the Christians, which falls on the
first Sunday after the fourteenth
day following the March new moon.
1t was on the day preceding this
feast that Christ was put to death,
and. while there is nothing in the
history of the Catholic church to
show conclusively to what the origin
of the observance of the forty days
of Lent is attributable, it is appar-
emily due to the feeling that would
naturally come to the followers of
Christ that a certain season preced-
ing the anniversary of his death
should be set apart for abstinence
and devotion. In the observance of
this season most of the Asiatio
churches have never varied greatly
from the Catholic church, this be-
ing one of the few things on which
they agree.
In ancient times it was a common
MARK OF PENITENCE
for men to rent their garments and
throw dust on their heads. Later on,
to dress themselves in sackcloth and
have ashes sprinkled on their heads
became evidence of penitence, espe-
cially for those charged with public
offenses. Christ referred to this evil
dence of contrition. From this the
Catholic church has continued the
practice Of blessing ashes on the first
day of the Lenten season and plac-
ing small particles of it on the heads
of those who confess themselves and
declare contrition for their sins.
The word Lent means spring time,
and during this period all true Catho-
lies are expected to examine their
Gil
receive the holy COMMUNICATIONS
G themselves, as it were, and begin a
new life. 1t is easy to understand,
then, how it comes that the season
is opened by the use of ashes. An
other reason given by authorities in
the church for the use of ashes is
that it is emblematic of the scien-
tific truth expressed in the words
'dust thou art, to dust returneth.'
The rules for the observance of the
Lenten season in the Catholic church
have been much modified from what
they were originally, and even with
in the past half century great modi-
fications have taken place. Formerly
the use of animal food products was
forbidden during the entire period
but now the use of meat is forbidden
for only a comparatively small por-
ton of the time-ordinarily one day
in the week aside from Friday
Singularly enough, however,
THESE NOTIFICATIONS
do not apply to the Catholics Of all
countries alike. In Hungary, for in