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The Church Year
We all used calendars to mark important dates, the passage of time, and the changing of the seasons. Throughout much of church history, a calendar referred to the Church Year (or the Liturgical Year) has been a part of many churches. The Church Year marks important seasons of time within Christianity, providing an opportunity for teaching, celebration of faith, and remembering what God has done.

In the Church Year, time is divided into two categories, Sacred Time and Ordinary Time. Sacred Time includes planned and purposeful observances of Christian holidays and seasons. There are two seasons of sacred time once centered on Christmas and the second on Easter. The first runs from the beginning of Advent to Epiphany (which includes Christmas). The second is from the Beginning of Lent (Ash Wednesday) to Pentecost (which includes Easter). The time which is not included in these two time periods is often referred to as ordinary time.

Lent: a season of preparation
Lent lasts for 40 days (Sundays are not counted), beginning Ash Wednesday and concluding the Saturday before Easter. The Lenten season is a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter. Those who celebrate this season often do so through prayer, repentance, giving, and self-denial. Many of those who celebrate this season will give up (or fast from) something for the 40 days of Lent.

Ash Wednesday: A day of repentance
Wednesday, February 17, 2010, is the start of the Christian season of Lent. In the liturgical calendar the first day of Lent is known as Ash Wednesday. It is a day of repentance and humility before God. In the Old Testament when people mourned they would wear sackcloth and ashes a symbol of their grief. It is common to see those who celebrate Ash Wednesday marked with ashes on their foreheads as a sign of humility and repentance before God.

How do we celebrate Ash Wednesday?
Historically, churches in the Restoration Movement have not formally celebrated Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to consider our relationship with our Heavenly Father. For many of us times of contemplation and repentance are rare. This season, preceding Easter, is a wonderful time for introspection and thought regarding our spiritual lives.

Here is a good overview of Biblical repentance.

My beloved friends,
Greetings!
Thanks to all of you for the e-mails that you send to encourage us. We appreciate them all. The situation tears our hearts. We deeply grieve. We fear the unknown. We are afraid of the worst. But we hand our fears over to God.
It is indescribable what is going on in my country particularly in Port-au-Prince. We have lots of concerns. I receive absolutely no information about my sister Bea. She lives close to the national palace, one of the most affected area. We know of several church members who have relatives in Port-au-Prince, the best news we have a lot of hurts, but the worst also several of them are dead.
I am headed to Port-au-Prince in a few minutes. I will have with me Jude the constructor, Fevrier the principal of the school, Manno our driver and mechanic and Lucma my brother who is studying at Central. We hope he can fly out Friday to the USA to resume his studies. He is torn apart. He seems to think it is not proper for him to go back while millions of his people are suffering, but I hope he agrees to return. Pray for all the team who is going.
We will go to look for first people, we will go to assess the situation to see what we can do. We will go to help others. We hope to distribute at least some water to the victims. Pray so that we can help a few.
We hope to return today with the hope to return tomorrow of the day after with one of the buses with more people to go to help a bigger portion of people. Please, please pray for our safety too.
God bless you.
My friends who have skype, let me know, I will set up an account or use Lucmas to talk with you.
Your supports mean the world of me.
We know He cares and you do too.
In His name,
Salonique