On Ash Wednesday, 22 February, Hartford students attended St. Michael’s Catholic Church to mark the beginning of Lent.

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, ending with the celebration of Easter Sunday. Lent is a time of preparation, repentance and reflection.

Ash Wednesday reminds us that we make mistakes, and also provides an opportunity to seek God’s forgiveness, and in turn, forgive others.

During the Ash Wednesday mass, Fr Paul Grant, Chaplain, Hartford College, placed a cross, made of ashes, on the students’ foreheads, and reminded us that we “are dust and to dust we shall return”.

Throughout Lent we are invited to increase our prayer, abstinence and almsgiving until the celebration of Easter.

We hope this will be a thoughtful and prayerful time for our students and our school community.