CHEHALIS – After feasting on pancakes in the hall at St. Joseph School, Chehalis-area Catholics headed to the parking lot to pray, listen to Scripture and burn palms.
It was all part of the Feb. 9 Shrove Tuesday events at St. Joseph Parish — preparation for the Lenten season of fasting and penitence beginning the next day, Ash Wednesday.
St. Joseph is part of a cluster of six parishes and missions in Lewis and east Pacific counties. Because the churches include a large Hispanic community, this year’s Shrove Tuesday service was bilingual, said Carolyn Lane, pastoral assistant for liturgy and music at St. Joseph. “We are all one community. We are all one body of Christ,” Lane explained.
To provide ashes for Ash Wednesday Masses, parishioners were invited to return their palms from last Palm Sunday to St. Joseph and St. Mary churches. The palms were placed in a brazier and burned during the Shrove Tuesday service, which included a Mardi Gras prayer. The prayer thanked God for his abundant gifts and served as a reminder of the significance of the fasting and abstinence to come during Lent.
The Shrove Tuesday dinner was organized by Knights of Columbus Council 1550, which will continue serving the parish during Lent. Each Friday of the season, the Knights will serve a soup supper in the hall, followed by Stations of the Cross in the church, said Grand Knight Larry Nelson.