Devera is one of many students who observed Ash Wednesday yesterday, which marks the beginning of Lent. Episcopalians, Roman Catholics and Lutherans observe the 40-day period, excluding Sundays, before Easter, and often give up a favorite item as a form of penitence.

Devera attended one of six ceremonies held at St. John Catholic Church and Student Center, 327 M.A.C. Ave., to observe Ash Wednesday.

During the 3 p.m. service, as voices rang through the center’s vaulted ceilings, more than 450 attendees were marked with ash crosses on their foreheads.

Pastor Mark Inglot said the ash ceremony is performed using the ashes of burned palms, which were used on Palm Sunday.

As one of many wearing the sign of the cross on her forehead, medical student Tina Gwinn said for her, Ash Wednesday services are nothing new, as she has been going for at least 20 years.

Gwinn said she feels attending Ash Wednesday is part of recognizing her Catholic beliefs.

“It means upholding your faith and following what you were brought up to be,” she said.

Inglot said he notices a dramatic increase in attendance at the church’s services on Ash Wednesday, especially by students.

“What happens here at Ash Wednesday as a student parish is absolutely remarkable,” he said. “It gives me hope for the future.”

Pastor Dave Dressel of Martin Luther Chapel, 444 Abbot Road, which also held Ash Wednesday services, said the ashes represent important ideas in the Bible.

“In Scripture, it talks about people using dust and ashes on themselves as a symbol of their own repentance and sinfulness before God,” he said. “(The ashes are) a symbol that we will die, and that’s just part of our human nature that we‘re limited like that.”

The chapel also held a service for students at the MSU Alumni Memorial Chapel, with more than 50 in attendance.

“Oftentimes, younger people don’t think as much about their mortality,” he said. “Usually (because they know) there’s a whole life ahead of them.”

Although Devera said she has lacked the motivation and time to attend church before, she said she’s sticking firm to her goal.

“Now that I know a bunch of people who go here that go to school too, I’ll probably (be) more likely to drag them with me … so I won’t forget to do it,” she said.