![]() ![]() Stewart is a professor at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. During the season of Lent, these penitents were set aside from the congregation, fasting and atoning, and then welcomed back before Easter. Tim O'Malley, who teaches at Notre Dame University, explains that penitents were those who had committed one of "the big sins" - murder, adultery, and apostasy. And Ash Wednesday was about repenting, for a special group of people called penitents. ![]() It was all around - these were the days of plagues, when many people didn't survive childhood. In the early days of the church, people didn't need to be reminded of death. ![]() Historically, Lent was a time of repentance, but more and more churches are using the day to reflect on mortality itself. It's the beginning of the Christian season of Lent, and the traditional liturgy includes the admonition "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." But today, Ash Wednesday, is one of the few days where the fact that we're going to die is said out loud and isn't related to illness. As a hospital chaplain, he talks about mortality more than most people do. ![]()
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