The Rev. J. Lee Winter (foreground) of the Episcopal Canterbury Fellowship used an ash-dipped thumb to make the sign of the cross earlier today on the forehead of MSU staff member Anne Cooke at the Chapel of Memories. Ash Wednesday religious services mark the beginning of Lent, the annual 40-day Christian season of fasting and penitence preceding Easter. Ashes used in the service came from palm leaves burned in the previous year's Palm Sunday celebration.