Niles Faithful Receive Ashes At Catholic Churches

"From dust you came and to dust you shall return."

Hundreds of Catholics heard those words when they visited five Niles-area churches on Ash Wednesday.

At , Rev. Christopher Gustafson, the pastor, and Rev. Tom Enright, the associate pastor, and many lay ministers distributed ashes. 

Each one  dipped a finger into a container of ashes and used them to mark the sign of the Cross on the forehead of each person who got in line to receive them. They recited the quote about mortality as they did so. 

Ash Wednesday began the 40-day period known as Lent in Catholic tradition. Catholic churches encourage the faithful to practice fasting (eating one main meal and two small meals with no snacks), abstinence (refraining from meat, including poultry, on Fridays) and alms giving during Lent. Easter, which falls on April 24 this year, concludes the Lenten period. 

St. John Brebeuf Church and St. Isaac Jogues Church, both in Niles, and St. Juliana Church and St. Mary of the Woods Church, which are in Chicago but have Niles parishioners, also distributed ashes on Wednesday.