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Feb 21, 2012 | Cathy Lynn Grossman

USA Today: Episcopal Priests Offer 'Ashes to Go' as Lent Begins

More than 70 Episcopal parishes in 18 states will bring Ash Wednesday to the streets, kicking off the Lenten season with a twist.

 

They'll offer the Christian sign of repentance — a smudged cross of ashes on the forehead — to anyone who seeks it in train stations, coffee shops and other public spots.

 

Dubbed Ashes to Go, it's a contemporary spin on the Ash Wednesday practice followed chiefly in Episcopal, Anglican, Catholic and Lutheran denominations.

 

Taking ashes on the road started in St. Louis in 2007 when the Rev. Teresa K.M. Danieley decided that if people can grab breakfast on the go, why shouldn't they be able to get their ashes in a flash? "It started sort of half-jokingly, but it became something pretty profound," she told Religion News Service.

 

And popular. Last year the Rev. Jeff Lee, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, stood in full vestments in the rain at the corner of Rush and Huron. He recalls, "The very first person was a cab driver who pulled to a halt and shouted. 'Lent! I completely forgot!'"

 

The Rev. Emily Mellott of Calvary Church in Lombard, Ill., and author of AshesToGo.org, describes the simple sign as a profound experience.

 

Read the rest at the USA Today website.