Arlington Heights church provides 'Ashes on the Go'

Despite the noise from arriving and departing trains in the background, Alan Medsker performed a solemn duty Wednesday offering an abbreviated imposition of ashes to commuters at the Metra station in downtown Arlington Heights.

"It has been far colder in the past," said Medsker, who has been volunteering to provide Ash Wednesday "Ashes on the Go" for the past 10 years through St. Simon's Episcopal Church in Arlington Heights.

Besides the weather, Medsker said he was happy to be able to serve more commuters than last year, when the pandemic kept many workers at home.

Similar events were held at Metra stations across the suburbs, allowing Christian commuters to celebrate the occasion on their way to work.

Ash Wednesday is the start of Lent for Christians, the 40-day period leading up to Holy Thursday. Christians mark the occasion by having a cross marked in ashes on their forehead.