Ash Wednesday - gone are the alleluias

One of my sons made an Alleluia banner -- a strip of paper with alleluias written all over it and decorated -- for us to hide last night. It's a concrete way to remember that Lent is different (tying in to the fact that we won't hear any alleluias in our church until the Easter vigil). We talked about the changes we're going to make for Lent to help us prepare for Holy Week and Easter, and that we remember Jesus making his journey to Jerusalem and the cross.

Palm crosses become ashes

The ashes that become crosses on the foreheads of those who attend Ash Wednesday services were the palm fronds of last year's Palm Sunday. It turns out to be good timing, in a way, that this week I did some research and found a few new palm weaving resources for the Palm Sunday/Holy Week page.

Basketmakers has a great index to resources on palm braiding or weaving. This week I looked through one of the books they recommend and thought it was fascinating: Wheat Weaving And Straw Craft. Great basic cross-weaving instructions are on the King of Peace Episcopal Church, Kingsland, Georgia, Web site.