NEWBERRY COUNTY — Today thousands of Christians around the world are observing Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent, a period of abstinence leading up to Easter.
In preparation for Ash Wednesday many churches, including Aveleigh Fellowship in Newberry, ceremonially burn palm branches, the ashes then being used to mark a cross on the forehead’s of believers as a sign of repentance.
The Sunday prior to Easter, known as Palm Sunday, commemorates Jesus entering Jerusalem 2,000 years ago where he was met by a palm-waving crowd.
“The palms in that day were symbols of a royal welcome, like greetings with banners, confetti or ticker tape today,” said the Rev. Dr. Mitchell Van Metre, Aveleigh’s minister. “The palms were a way for the people of Jerusalem to acknowledge that Jesus was king.”
Van Metre explained that each year on Palm Sunday church members take palm branches to their homes and conduct a prayer-walk and “proclaim Christ their king” at each entrance point.
“Believers then discreetly display the palms in their homes for the next year and when things are at points of crisis or conflict, it’s time to do a prayer-walk to bind the evil or darkness that might be creeping in,” he said.
When the Season of Lent begins the following year, the palms are collected and burned to symbolize the beginning of renewal.
“Lent is the oldest liturgical season on the Christian calendar. It was celebrated in the Roman catacombs before Christianity was legal, probably in the first and second centuries,” Van Metre said.
As Christianity in Rome grew more popular, religious leaders decided to incorporate certain local traditions into the new faith to appease the local populous, according to www.history.com.
The festivals of Saturnalia and Lupercalia, which evolved into Mardi Gras, became preludes to Lent, their debauchery juxtaposed against the season of penance.
Mardi Gras spread across Europe and eventually to the United States with French immigrants in the 17th century.