For the seventh year in a row, Episcopal congregations in towns across northern New Jersey will take to the streets on Ash Wednesday, February 14, marking the beginning of the Christian holy season of Lent by giving “Ashes to Go.”
Ash Wednesday initiates the Lenten season of reflection and penitence which precedes Easter. In the Episcopal tradition, ashes are used to mark the foreheads of the faithful with the sign of the cross, with the words “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Numerous priests, deacons and lay people will visit train stations, bus stops, coffee shops, shopping centers and street corners to offer ashes and a brief prayer to commuters and pedestrians who wish to participate.
During morning rush hour, commuters can receive Ashes to Go from The Rt. Rev. Mark M. Beckwith, Bishop of Newark at Newark Penn Station between approximately 7:15 AM and 8 AM.
The Rev. Canon Gregory Jacobs, diocesan Canon to the Ordinary, will offer Ashes to Go starting at approximately 7:15 AM at the indoor entrance to the Gateway Building on the second floor of Newark Penn Station.
Churches in the Diocese of Newark that plan to offer Ashes to Go at public locations in their communities are listed on the diocese's Community Calendar.
The Ashes to Go initiative was started by the Rev. Teresa K. M. Danieley of St. John’s Episcopal Church, St. Louis, MO, who began conducting a street corner service with the distribution of ashes in 2007.
For more about the Ashes to Go program, visit ashestogo.org.
