By Carroll students heard the message “Repent and believe in the gospel” during the Ash Wednesday Mass on March 5.
On Ash Wednesday, people will hear two prayers when receiving ashes: “Repent and believe in the gospel” or “Dust and unto dust you shall return.”
At Carroll College Ash Wednesday Masses – at 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. – Fr. Tyler Frolich decided to use the phrase “Repent and believe in the Gospel” as students received a cross of ashes on their foreheads. These prayers are chosen based on the preference of the priest saying Mass.
“Ash Wednesday is my favorite Mass ever, and it’s amazing to see so many adults embracing the ashes and the cross,” said Sarah Hiller, a psychology junior from Pocatello, Idaho.
Ash Wednesday Mass is the start of Lent, which leads up to Easter. Lent is the echo of the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert fasting and fighting temptation. This is usually echoed by the role of fasting or giving something – such as your favorite drink, adding a daily prayer, or taking cold showers – throughout the season of Lent. The fast is then broken on Easter, which is celebrated as the day that Jesus rose from the dead.
Ash Wednesday Mass tends to be one of the largest Masses on Carroll’s campus, mainly because it’s a Mass everyone can partake in. To receive ashes, people do not need to be Catholic, and students from different faiths come together because of this.
“It was a beautiful reminder of our human nature and the necessity of our reliance on God,” said Maria Szpilka, a Catholic studies and philosophy double major from Helena.
