Reflections on Ash Wednesday

Per Vatican and Archdiocesan guidance, this year we will be doing a sprinkling of the ashes on the head. Sprinkling ashes, rather than marking foreheads, is the customary practice at the Vatican and in Italy. This got us thinking about the history of this Lenten tradition, and we’ve got a few resources to share here.

Ashes
The early Catholic Church used ashes for some of the same symbolic reasons that earlier communities did, as a reminder of penance and humankind’s mortality. In his book, De Poenitentia, Tertullian (c. 160-220) prescribed that the penitent must “live without joy in the roughness of sackcloth and the squalor of ashes,” begging forgiveness. During this time, for those who were required to do public penance, the priest sprinkled ashes on the head of the person leaving confession.

In the Middle Ages (at least by the time of the eighth century), those who were about to die were laid on the ground on top of sackcloth sprinkled with ashes. The priest would bless the dying person with holy water, saying, “Remember that thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return.” After the sprinkling, the priest asked, “Art thou content with sackcloth and ashes in testimony of thy penance before the Lord in the day of judgment?” To which the dying person replied, “I am content.” In all of these examples, the symbolism of mourning, mortality and penance is clear.

Eventually, the use of ashes was adapted to mark the beginning of Lent, the 40-day preparation period (not including Sundays) for Easter. The ritual for the “Day of Ashes” is found in the earliest editions of the Gregorian Sacramentary, which dates at least to the 8th century. About the year 1000, an Anglo-Saxon priest named Aelfric preached, “We read in the books both in the Old Law and in the New that the men who repented of their sins bestrewed themselves with ashes and clothed their bodies with sackcloth. Now let us do this little at the beginning of our Lent that we strew ashes upon our heads to signify that we ought to repent of our sins during the Lenten fast.” Since the Middle Ages, the Church has used ashes to mark the beginning of the penitential season of Lent, when we remember our mortality and mourn for our sins.

In our present liturgy for Ash Wednesday, we use ashes made from the burned palm branches distributed on the Palm Sunday of the previous year. The priest blesses the ashes and imposes them on the foreheads of the faithful, making the sign of the cross and saying, “Remember, man you are dust and to dust you shall return,” or “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”  Yet that sprinkling action carries as much (if not more) historical weight. When we begin the holy season of Lent in preparation for Easter, we must remember the significance of the ashes we have received, however we have received them: We mourn and do penance for our sins. We again convert our hearts to the Lord, who suffered, died and rose for our salvation. We renew the promises made at our baptism, when we died to an old life and rose to a new life with Christ. Finally, mindful that the kingdom of this world passes away, we strive to live the kingdom of God now and look forward to its fulfillment in heaven.

Ash Wednesday Services
Mass: 6:30 and 9:10 AM, 6:00 PM
Live Stream: 6:00 PM on Facebook
Drive-up: Ashes & Communion, ~7:00 PM, Gathering Space Circle

Resources
Here are some other meaningful resources from the Archdiocese, regarding the tradition of Ash Wednesday, fasting and abstinence:
From The Catholic Spirit:

• Lenten regulations for fasting and abstinence 
• Why do we receive ashes on Ash Wednesday? 
• Ash Wednesday 101 
• Ash Wednesday: Beyond the ritual 
• Should we keep ashes on our forehead all day on Ash Wednesday?