Ashes at Sant’Anselmo all’Aventino in Rome. / Credit: Vatican Media
ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 14, 2024 / 10:20 am (CNA).
Ash Wednesday begins the holy season of Lent, which is structured to spiritually prepare to walk with the Lord through his passion and celebrate his resurrection on Easter Sunday. Below are 10 important things to know about Ash Wednesday and its significance.
1. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent.
Ash Wednesday begins the 40 days in which the Church calls the faithful to conversion and to truly prepare to live the mysteries of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Roman Missal, which prescribes the ritual for Ash Wednesday, explains that at Mass the ashes made from the palms blessed on Palm Sunday of the previous year are blessed and placed on the foreheads of the faithful.
2. The use of ashes developed over the years.
The tradition of placing ashes on penitents dates back to the early Church. Back then people placed the ashes on their heads and appeared before the community with a “penitential habit” to receive the sacrament of reconciliation on Holy Thursday. Starting in the 11th century, the Church of Rome placed ashes on all the faithful who would come forward at the beginning of this time.
3. Ashes remind us of the need for God’s mercy.
Ashes are a symbol. Their function is described in No. 125 of the Directory on Popular Piety and Liturgy, a document published by the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments:
“In the Roman rite, the beginning of the 40 days of penance is marked with the austere symbol of ashes, which are used in the liturgy of Ash Wednesday. The use of ashes is a survival from an ancient rite according to which converted sinners submitted themselves to canonical penance. The act of putting on ashes symbolizes fragility and mortality, and the need to be redeemed by the mercy of God. Far from being a merely external act, the Church has retained the use of ashes to symbolize that attitude of internal penance to which all the baptized are called during Lent. The faithful who come to receive ashes should be assisted in perceiving the implicit internal significance of this act, which disposes them toward conversion and renewed Easter commitment.”
4. Ashes have more than one meaning.
The word “ashes” represents the product of the combustion of something by fire. This takes on a symbolic connotation of death, the fleeting quality of temporal things, but also of humility and penitence.
Ashes, as a sign of humility, remind the Christian of his origin and his end: “the Lord God formed the man out of the dust of the ground” (Gn 2:7); “until you return to the ground, from which you were taken” (Gn 3:19).
5. Ashes are made from palms used on Palm Sunday.
Per the instructions of the Roman Missal, ashes are typically supposed to be made from last year’s Palm Sunday palm branches.
These branches are then burned down into a fine powder and, in the United States, are mixed with holy water or chrism oil to create a light paste.
6. The ashes are placed on the forehead at the end of the homily.
The distribution of ashes takes place at Mass at the end of the homily, and laypeople are allowed to assist the priest. The ashes are placed on the forehead making the sign of the cross while the minister says: “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return” or “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”
The person receiving the ashes then goes back to his or her pew in silence, meditating on the words that were spoken.
7. Ashes can also be distributed without Mass.
When there is no priest, the faithful can receive ashes without a Mass, but this is not the norm. However, in such a case it is recommended that the distribution of ashes be preceded by a Liturgy of the Word.
It is important to remember that like all sacramentals, ashes can only be blessed by a priest or deacon.
8. Ashes can be received by non-Catholics.
Anyone can receive this sacramental, even non-Catholics. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states in No. 1670: “Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Church’s prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it.”
9. It is not obligatory to receive ashes.
Ash Wednesday is not a holy day of obligation and therefore receiving ashes is not obligatory. However, it is always recommended to attend Mass.
10. On Ash Wednesday fasting and abstinence are mandatory.
On Ash Wednesday, fasting and abstinence are mandatory — as on Good Friday — for those 18–59 years of age. Outside of those limits it is optional. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops explains that “fasting on these days means we can have only one full, meatless meal. Some food can be taken at the other regular mealtimes if necessary but combined they should be less than a full meal. Liquids are allowed at any time, but no solid food should be consumed between meals.”
Abstinence from eating meat is mandatory from the age of 14. All Fridays of Lent are also required days of abstinence. This also applies to the other Fridays of the year, although depending on the country it can be replaced by another type of mortification or offering such as praying the rosary.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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How ghoulish! Enter the door marked “Superstition”. Is it any wonder some take amusement at the Church of Rome.
Bury the skull, instead exalt Christ!
Brian: First, read some history; secondly, deepen your theological understanding of God, Christ, the Incarnation, the body, etc.
It’s not ghoulish or superstitious. Or amusing. You are speaking like a 21st-century American, not a Christian rooted in Tradition faith, and eschatological hope.
Everything to do with the saints (relics, prayers, devotion, etc) is about Jesus Christ, precisely because the Catholic Faith has a far deeper, more robust, and authentic understanding of the Church, communio, and the material realm than do Protestants, who are so often (as one Protestant author rightly called it years ago) quite gnostic in their understanding of the created world.
Carl with comeuppance for yours truly. One of the reasons to enjoy CWR is to learn. The forum attracts able writers and educated, godly responders. We don’t have to be correct on every point, yet we are enriched as we encounter dialogue from fellow lovers of Christ. CWR is a catalyst for developing faith, eschewing misconceptions and aiding those who do not know Christ.
Perhaps you are correct in your summation, however, I would not be putting the skull of this giant of the faith on my mantlepiece anytime soon (providing some thoughtful soul sent it along)!
Allow me to compliment you and your staff on your God honouring work!
Ever in Christ,
Brian
James 1:9-10 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.
1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
Romans 10:2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
Brian. God be with you.
Dear Georgina:
God’s richest blessings as you strive to serve Him!
Yours in Christ,
Brian
Dear Carl:
The gnostic perspective and Philip K lee!
A true protestant will reject gnosticism because it is unbiblical. You must review numerous drafts that present irregular and sometimes unorthodox views. Training and good scholarship allows you to separate the wheat form the chaff.
In John’s letters to the church, he uncovers the gnostic perspective. He does not endorse those views as sound theology. While these ideas may help a person to understand Christ’s message and decline conclusions that are contrary to Holy Scripture, should we not study the excellent while rejecting substandard analysis?
In Colossians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus and 2nd Peter, again, admonishment is given against the heresy of the gnostics. Perhaps scripture says it best in respect to the follower of gnosticism:
2 Timothy 3:7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
Ephesians 4:14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Blessings,
Brian
“A true protestant will reject gnosticism because it is unbiblical.”
And yet, Brian, you apparently accept and promote sola scriptura, which is completely unbiblical. But we’ve covered that ground already…
Dear Carl:
How can the word of God be incomplete? He who has given us everything we need, in some such way, left something out? While I deeply respect your work, it will happen that we disagree from time to time. However, could you point to a specific instance where scripture fails to address a particular need that man has?
Matthew 4:4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Ephesians 6:17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
Blessings upon blessings,
Brian
Let those who take amusement at the church of Rome enjoy their laugh. They will laugh last as the Church honors the material remains of a saint of profound reason, deeply blessed faith, heavenly inspiration, and unearthly industry, skulls and its contents could greatly benefit. They will also laugh last as Jesus the Christ honors in heaven what the Church honors on Earth, as He holds bound what His Catholic Church holds bound. He is her Head. What body part does Protestantism hold with which to amuse, enjoy and believe itself blessed by that part?
Dear Meiron:
Thank you for responding and offering your perspective. You have said a great deal in a few sentences. Allow me to attempt to reply to you.
We agree on the excellence of Aquinas. We celebrate his faith, words and work. How could we laugh at such a godly legacy? Praise God for such a man.
If we discuss godly matters, our framework should be the guidance of God.
1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts honour Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
You point to: Matthew 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
We ask ourselves is there a restraining mechanism that all believers in Christ should adhere to?
Revelation 22:18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,
Peter is liberated by the word of God and constrained by eternal precepts ordained by God, as well.
Malachi 1:6 “A son honours his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honour? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’
Isaiah 29:13 And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honour me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
Though I stand to be corrected, Catholics and Protestants celebrate the resurrected and holy body, plus spirit of Jesus Christ the righteous.
Blessings,
Brian