From left, Father Timothy Kummerer, pastor of Defiance St. Mary, and Francisco Lloveras, director of music and worship, add palms to the flames outside church on Fat Tuesday. (Chronicle photo by Laurie Stevens)

In the days before Ash Wednesday, palms from last year were burned during special ceremonies held at parishes across the Diocese of Toledo.

The ashes were used for Ash Wednesday services February 6.

“Nearly a year ago, at the end of Lent, we carried these branches to welcome the Messiah,” read Father Timothy Kummerer, pastor of Defiance St. Mary, during a service held in the church parking lot Feb. 5. “In preparation for a new Lent, the church’s sacred springtime, we have gathered these holy branches to be burned.

“Ashes are the leftovers of life. They are reminders of death,” he continued.

“For us the ashes signal an ending and a beginning, a season of repentance, a time of purification and cleansing, a time of fresh growth.”