St. Elisabeth’s Episcopal Church of Floral Park delivered its fourth annual Ashes To Go program on Wednesday, Feb. 17 on the Long Island Rail Road train platform at Floral Park’s station. This year, approximately 60 local residents received ashes from the ministers at St. Elisabeth’s.
Ashes To Go has been offered nationwide; in New York, congregations upstate have previously participated. St. Elisabeth’s is possibly one of the first and continuing Long Island parishes to offer the “to go” service.
In 2013, Ashes to Go went international—in Canada, the U.K. and South Africa.
Ashes are an ancient sign of penitence. From the Middle Ages it became the custom to begin Lent by being marked in ash with the sign of the cross.
