AUBURN -- Ash Wednesday is a tradition celebrated in churches all over the world by members of many different Christian faiths.

On Wednesday night, many gathered at Westminster Presbyterian Church to participate in this celebration that begins the 40 days and 40 nights season of Lent. The Reverend Philip S. Windsor said that those of who are categorized as part of the Protestant movement are relative newcomers to the celebration of Ash Wednesday.

"It is a Catholic Church tradition," Windsor said. "But I had started it with other congregations I have worked with and it has been a part of this church for a while now."

The ashes, which are made from the palm leaves used during the celebration of Passion Sunday at Westminster, are applied in the sign of a cross to the foreheads of congregation members. It's a gesture that has a great deal of symbolic significance, one that can be traced back to the story of the fall in Genesis.

"It says that you are dust and to dust shall you return," Windsor said. "The ashes are a symbol of sacrifice, but they are also a symbol of mortality. We are all mortal; that is a natural part of life."

While Windsor said that meditation on the symbolism of the ashes and all they represent are an important part of the Lent season, they do not make up the entirety of what the day is about. Windsor believes that it is a time to focus on making the traditional sacrifices of the season, but also a time to reach out beyond ourselves to the larger world around us.

Windsor said that traditionally new members of the church were welcomed in on Easter, a tradition that may have fallen to the wayside, but one that he believes can still be practiced, all though it may be it in other forms these days.

Read the full report in Thursday's edition of The Citizen.