When Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s converge, pepperoni pizza comes a day early
Lisa Rominger wore ashes drawn into a cross on her forehead and a shirt of red hearts Wednesday morning after Mass in Moorpark.
For the first time in six years, Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day converged on the calendar, the solemnity of the first day of Lent meeting a holiday crafted out of romance, chocolates and roses. Rominger, who will celebrate her 20th wedding anniversary in a week, was prepared.
She, her husband and their two children celebrated Valentine's at Sweethearts' Nite on Monday at Disneyland. Two days later, at Holy Cross Catholic Church's 8 a.m. Mass, she listened as a priest in a purple Lenten vestment explained the day begins a season of sacrifice, charity and prayer.
She and hundreds of others walked to the front of the church where Monsignor Joseph Hernandez touched their foreheads, leaving behind ashes that symbolize where mortal life begins and ends.
The mark is a public testimony for Rominger.
"You're showing that you believe so you better live by that," she said, noting the chocolates will wait.
“That will happen tonight, but some of us will eat it tomorrow,” she said with a smile.
For Catholics, the day brought limitations on meals and instructions to fast and abstain from meat.
So the homemade, heart-shaped pepperoni pizza was plated up a day early at Michelle Durocher’s home in Fillmore, along with chocolate cake from Ralphs. After Mass, she planned to bring her five children to a weekly home-schooling class that would likely bring more Valentine's activities.
“I told my kids just remember it’s a day of fasting,” she said.
Others drove away from Holy Cross on missions: Delivering cinnamon dolce latte to a spouse, hunting down red roses, making dinner reservations and picking up a daughter flying in from New York.
Some planned to give up sweets for the day, or put off a traditional family outing at a bowling alley. They didn't worry much about what they were missing.
Tim Galicia, a Moorpark nurse with plans for a family lunch, took a stab at explaining why.
“When we sacrifice in love, we receive joy in return,” he said.
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com or 805-437-0255.
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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Juggling ashes and roses as Lent's debut converges with Valentine's
