Lenten season to start next week

Ash Wednesday is next week, and at least two Albany churches will have special services that evening.

Trinity Lutheran Church will hold a service at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6. 

Jesus of Nazareth Catholic Church has Mass scheduled for 5:45 p.m. on Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday is observed 46 days before Easter Sunday and is the beginning of the Lenten season.

Lent is a time of reflection, focusing on repentance for sins, and remembering the suffering Christ endured to win forgiveness and salvation for all believers.

Traditionally, during Ash Wednesday services, the priest or pastor uses ashes to draw a small cross on the forehead of worshippers.

The ashes symbolize the dust from which God created people and also the grief that believers feel about the sins they have committed.

Ashes and the season of Lent are designed to prepare people for the cele-bration to come on Easter Sunday.

This year Easter Sunday falls on April 21.

The Lutheran Church will have a Lent service at 7:00 p.m. each Wednesday evening until Holy Week. 

The services will be preceded by a soup and sandwich meal served at 6:00 p.m. Desserts are also served.

Everyone in the community is welcome to attend.