Northbrook church ushers in Lenten season with ritual burning of palm fronds
Palm fronds taken home by parishioners after last year's Palm Sunday masses at St. Norbert and Our Lady of the Brook Catholic Church in Northbrook were burned Tuesday to create ashes used to bless the faithful on Ash Wednesday.
The Christian ritual marks the beginning of the Lenten season, a solemn 40-day period devoted to reflection, prayer, spiritual preparation and fasting before Easter.
Students and teachers from the parish school watched from the church steps as the palms were set ablaze in a metal portable fire pit by a church employee.
On Ash Wednesday, Catholics have ashes applied to their foreheads in the shape of a cross as an outward expression of their faith, the Archdiocese of Chicago said in a statement.
The Rev. Christopher Gustafson, pastor of St. Norbert and Our Lady of the Brook, said the palms were used during last year's Palm Sunday mass to honor Jesus' arrival into Jerusalem before his Passion.
"And now these palms are burned to create the ashes that call us to a life of repentance, opening ourselves more fully to his grace, just letting go of all the things in our lives that prevent us from being open to his grace," Gustafson said.
He said the children watching understand the physical and spiritual meaning of the burning of the palms to create ashes.
"It's a real blessed opportunity, not just for them, but for the whole parish," Gustafson said.