The St. Louis U. High community gathered in the Si Commons Wednesday morning to celebrate the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday.

“I would say the thing that makes the Ash Wednesday service special is the solemn atmosphere,” said Campus Minister Stephen Deves. “I think it’s a good image of that intentional prayer that we’re hopefully going to go into during Lent.”

Campus Ministry leaders worked to prepare a meaningful Mass, adding striking elements to the mass such as the ringing bell or the opening song.

“The beginning of the Mass was really cool with the silence and the bells because it’s like the daily examen where you are supposed to be quiet and it really helped to center us,” said sophomore Clark Davis.

“It is a long process to have to set up the Mass but I would say the team is pretty good at getting all school Masses to flow smoothly with our group of Mr. Gilmore doing music, Mrs. Anzalone organizing the mass roles, Mrs. Lewis organizing the Eucharistic ministers, and Fr. Stewart worked with the priests,” said Deves. “It just all flows pretty smoothly.”

Director of Campus Ministry Fr. Matt Stewart, SJ, who concelebrated the Mass, appreciates the readings for the day.

“The readings every day for Lent are really intentionally chosen for the season,” said Director of Campus Ministry Matt Stewart, SJ. “The sense of trying to add things into my life and take things away. I love the season and Ash Wednesday as the beginning of (Lent).”

The readings and homily at the Mass spoke of the intentions that should be carried out throughout Lent and how SLUH can work to better themselves spiritually with their own Lenten promises.

“I thought Fr. Houlihan's message about how Lent is a time to remind me ourselves that God has given us so much and at the end of the day our relationship with God is what matters most and is the most important thing was really meaningful and showed how we need to value the tradition within Lent,” said sophomore Andrew Mortiz.

“I love the first reading from the prophet Joel where he says, “Rend your hearts, not your garments,” which is funny because a lot of what we do at Ash Wednesday Mass is a lot of external stuff with ashes, color, and music and things like that,” said Stewart. “But ideally, those are all manifestations of something going on deep inside of us that we can give up, things like candy, video  games, soda, or whatever, that's fine, but what we need to think about is how's your heart being torn open to what God is trying to do with you?” 

Lent is a time of self-sacrifice and repentance, but the faculty and spiritual leaders of Saint Louis U. High are making a point of emphasizing the spiritual growth to come from the season as well.

“Sometimes Lent can get a bad reputation for being a pessimistic of depressing time … where we give stuff up,” said Campus Minister Stephen Deves, “But all of that is meant to ready ourselves (and) rid ourselves of distractions that usually surround life in order for us to grow more fully in relationship with God.”

To help students spiritually prepare for this season, each Monday of Lent Campus Ministry will offer a simple meal of bread and soup for lunch for two dollars, along with a group reflection on the season.

“The other side of it doesn’t have to be giving something up,” said Deves. “Maybe you join us in a simple lunch on Mondays in reflection. Maybe you decide to say a rosary or attend morning Mass.”

Furthermore, there will be a daily morning Mass throughout all of Lent. However with the current renovations in the Chapel, Mass will now be held in the theater loge.

With all of these events scheduled for the Lenten season, Campus Ministry hopes to continue to encourage SLUH students to be more involved with the true values of Lent.

“During Lent, we're called to be ambassadors of Christ and Jesus helps us by giving us the instructions on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, and throughout this time of Lent,” said Stewart. “We just need to all remember the values of Lent and follow them meaningfully throughout the whole season.”