From weekday cocktails, fast food and sweatpants to candy, cussing, and coffee — these are just some of the comforts local believers are sacrificing as the Christian world begins its 40-day observance of Lent. This season of fasting, abstinence and prayer serves as a solemn countdown to Easter Sunday.
The beginning of this period is literally traced onto the foreheads of believers who receive ashes on their foreheads as a sign of mortality, and services throughout the world began this season of reflection in traditional style.
Outside the Smith College Campus Center in Northampton, a couple dozen students used their lunch break to receive their ashes, where the Rev. Matilda Rose Cantwell of the United Church of Christ led students in prayer. On her makeshift altar — a plastic folding picnic table covered with a cloth — she placed a basket of stones and a tray of sand.
Despite facing frigid and foggy weather, Cantwell — the Smith College chaplain and director of religious and spiritual life — distributed ashes and prayed over the students. She invited them to take a stone, or rub their hands through the sand to “feel your elemental connection to earth” while explaining the significance of the Lenten season.
“This act that you have taken part in today represents your elemental connection with the earth that you have come from, and the earth that you will go back to — and your loved ones will go back to — but like Jesus Christ, will never die,” she said.
The etymology of the word Lent comes from the idea of “lengthening,” said Cantwell, highlighting the season’s focus on spring as the days grow longer.
Rev. William D. Byrne, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, which serves the four counties of western Massachusetts, offered his own perspective on Lent’s significance for Christian believers, and why believers often give something up during the season.
“It’s a time of preparation for the celebration of the Resurrection, and we do that by acts of penance, giving something up, by acts of almsgiving, meaning something special to help the poor, and also deepen our prayer during this season,” he said.
At 10 a.m. Wednesday, 150 gathered at the Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus, and many in attendance shared their aspirations for the next 40 days.
UMass nursing student Abena Ofori-Mensah was among them, noting that she’ll be giving up candy and cussing. She said she chose candy because it is an unhealthy stress reliever, and cussing because she wants fewer of those words in her vocabulary.
“I don’t cuss like a sailor, but I just don’t want that in my vocabulary anymore,” she said.
UMass student Sydney Sheehan came with her friend group of sophomores. She plans on slowing down on her weekday drinking habits, but she’ll still be drinking on the weekends.
“I’m cutting drinking to more like only the weekend, so there’s no more Thirsty Thursday or weekday cocktails,” said Sheehan.
Her friend Brianna Bonilla-Bartlett is giving up sweatpants.
Her rule: “I can’t leave the house not looking put together. Like my hair has to be done, my makeup has to be done.”
What motivated her was realizing she was relying on sweatpants as a staple in her wardrobe; she expects to build clothing habits to replace her current ones.
Meanwhile, Maya Tyszka is giving up fast food. “I’m giving up fast food because I spend too much money on it,” she said.
Judy Wilson, who received her ashes in the morning at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in South Hadley, emphasized how much she loves her morning coffee, which is why she has given it up for the past two years.
She said giving up something so “near and dear” enhances the experience of Easter, her favorite holiday.
“You really appreciate Easter — I really have to say that’s true,” she said.
Her husband George Wilson will be intensifying daily reading and reflection, cutting some carbs out of his diet and giving to charities — all as part of Lent’s goal of prioritizing prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
“The beauty of Lent is the fact that by kind of turning your attention away from yourself so much and turning it on God, it gives you a chance for personal growth,” he said.
UMass student Aiden Doyle shared that for him, “Lent is less about giving something up and more about doing something better.” This season, he will not be focused on not anything big or extravagant, but on small acts of kindness.
“Very little things can make people happier,” he said.
Gov. Maura Healey, a Catholic, is approaching Lent with a similar mentality. After being asked in Holyoke Tuesday if she was considering giving anything up, she said she was still deciding.
“There’s a lot of things I’d love to give up,” she said.
But, she added, “During this season, I might focus more on an act of kindness — a concerted effort every day to do something positive.”
She continued: “I think that’s what we all need right now. This country, we need community. We need people working together. We need people supporting one another. I’ve certainly seen beautiful signs of that, the way people have stepped forward to support neighbors. We need to feed hungry kids, to look after students, to do the things that need doing. So I think that’s something that I’m going to focus on.”
For many who came to receive their ashes, there was an element of tradition; Ash Wednesday marked an opportunity to connect with childhood memories and loved ones who have died.
Claire Rhody, a Smith College sophomore studying geology and biology, said she came out to Cantwell’s service because, having gone to Catholic schools her whole life, she has fond memories of walking over to church every year. She also said the day connected her with her great aunt, whom she described as deeply religious and who recently died.
Also in attendance was Iris Nijbroek, a first-year Smith student.
“I really wanted to do Ash Wednesday because at home we do it every year, and it’s my favorite religious holiday.”
It’s her favorite because, especially as a student, she sees it as a motivating push to remain positive and grounded before the end of the school year.
“We start Ash Wednesday — it’s cold, it’s dark — and by the time Easter comes around, it’s springtime.”
At St. Theresa’s in South Hadley, Terry Gaither said Easter is her favorite holiday because she was born on Good Friday with her twin sister. Now, Gaither is the only twin left. In addition to fasting and joining an online prayer group, Lent is giving Gaither the opportunity to “remember family that I have lost over the years, including my twin,” she said.