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 Rev. 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.

Windsor went on to offer four postures for the Lenten season.

“Bowing our heads,” Windsor said. “Extended hands, open arms and knees bent in prayer and solitude, those are the four postures of Lent.”

Windsor said that with heads bent, mercy can be asked of God. With hands extended, the church and its congregation can reach out to those in need.

“Our one great hour of sharing offering,” Windsor said. “Through efforts like this we can reach out to the hungry, to those that have suffered from natural disasters. This is a time that we can think about and reach out to others.”

While the practice of sacrifice during Lent can be private, Windsor said there is a need to also practice openness during this time.

“With arms open we can welcome others,” Windsor said. “We can reach out to new people, but we can also reach out to the people we miss. The people that we haven't seen here in these pews in a few weeks or years, we can reach out to them and let them know they are missed.”

Windsor also encouraged time for personal focus and prayer.

“Jesus, you don't have to go out and make sure everyone knows you are praying,” Windsor said. “It is important to reach out to others and to our community, but it is just as important to find sometime for quiet and prayer and solitude to commune with ourselves and our perhaps grow a little spiritually.”

These acts all combined with a focus on spiritual growth, more than anything is the message Windsor hoped to share with all in attendance.

“Lent isn't a time to be miserable,” Windsor said. “It is a time to realize that we are imperfect and that we care complicit in the world and its problems and that we are not absolved from that and looking for ways that we can help and help our own spiritual growth.”