Embarking on the Lenten Season

           Early on the morning of February 17th, ranks of students, their dark uniform coats contrasting with the brilliant white of the new-fallen snow, proceeded to the auditorium to assist at the All-Academy and College Ash Wednesday Mass. As ashes were blessed and distributed and the Mass was offered, students and faculty alike immersed themselves in the somber and soul-stirring liturgy of the day, with its solemn chants, violet vestments, and penitential orisons which so beautifully blend the call to repentance with the reminder of the Infinite Mercy.

            At the conclusion of the Mass, students and faculty returned to class with a cross of ashes on each forehead. We bear for the day this silent yet eloquent reminder of our origin and end, but also of our cause for hope. The upcoming season is one of mortification, yet we embark on it joyfully, knowing that the blood-stained footsteps in which we follow shall lead at last to the triumph of the Cross and the glory of the Resurrection.