LEWISTON — In the Christian tradition, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the church season called Lent.

On this day ashes are applied in the shape of the cross on the foreheads of believers while the words “For dust you are and to dust you shall return” are spoken. These words from Genesis 3:19 are God’s words, spoken to Adam and Eve before they were cast out of the Garden of Eden.

Ashes are used to remind of our mortality and our need to repent and get right with God. The cross reminds each penitent that through Christ, love and forgiveness are available to everyone.

The earliest mention of the tradition of the imposition of ashes comes from the 8th century.

The idea of taking the imposition of ashes outside the church walls started a number of years ago in Chicago and has migrated to hundreds of locations across the U.S.

Over the past two years, Maine Episcopalians, both clergy and laity, who have participated have blessed many and been blessed by the experience of offering ashes publicly. Last year, both Trinity Episcopal Church and Calvary Methodist Church in Lewiston offered ashes in Kennedy Park.

This year Calvary and Trinity will join together in this pre-lent ritual on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18.

The Rev. Steve Crowson (Rector at Trinity), Klara Tammany (Associate for Urban Outreach at Trinity) and The Rev. Pat Gardiner (Interfaith Chaplain and member at Calvary) will be in Kennedy Park near Trinity, at the corner of Bates and Spruce streets, from 11 to 11:30 am.

In order to be present to those on a lunch break from work, Tammany and Gardiner will head to Pine and Park streets, the opposite corner of the park across from City Hall and the Sun Journal, from noon to 12:30. They will then proceed to The Center for Wisdom’s Women behind Healy Terrace off Bates Street, between Pine and Ash.

In the case of a blizzard or severe cold, ashes will be available at Trinity Church at 11 a.m. and the women’s center at noon. Other churches are welcome to come join Trinity and Calvary in sharing this Ash Wednesday tradition. For more information, call 312-9410.

Lent is the five-week church season between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. It is a penitential time in which many Christians take the opportunity for spiritual renewal before the celebration of Easter. In the western church tradition, the date of Easter, and thus Ash Wednesday, vary each year as the Easter date is set to be the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox.