Q. How did Ash Wednesday start?
A. It is believed the custom comes from the ancient Hebrew practice of public penitents wearing sackcloth and ashes as a sign of repentance from wrong doing. As early as the 300s, a similar custom was used by local churches as a way to temporarily excommunicate, or expel, public sinners from the community. Public sinners were those accused of the "capital" sins of apostasy, heresy, murder, and adultery.
A. The ashes are made by burning the palm fronds saved from the previous year's Palm Sunday. Then they are blessed by a priest.
Q. Are Catholics required to receive ashes on Ash Wednesday?
A. No, it is not required. However, it is recommended because the action serves as a visible witness to your faith and a reminder to adopt a prayerful, penitent attitude for the Lenten season.
Q. Does Ash Wednesday always occur on the same date each year?
A. No, it is a movable feast observed six and one-half weeks before Easter. It was set as the first day of Lent by Pope St. Gregory the Great (590-604)
Q. Why does the priest make a cross with the ashes?
A. In the Bible, a mark on the forehead is a symbol of a person's ownership. Being marked with a cross shows that a person belongs to Christ. It's an imitation of the seal or mark placed on a person's forehead during baptism.
Q. What does the priest say while marking your forehead?
A. Either "Remember man that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return" (Genesis, 3:19), or a more recent alternative, "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel." (Mark 1:15)
Q. What does it mean to fast and abstain?
A. Catholics, as a group, are required to fast on only two days of the year--Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. This means eating one full mean in the day with no food in-between meals. It is understood that the other two meals should not total one full meal.
To abstain is to not eat meat. It is an act of penance that is observed on Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays of Lent. It should be noted that abstaining from meat and then partaking in a wonderfully decadent lobster dinner would not be appropriate to the season. The sacrifice of meat is a sign of penance. Part of this abstinence is also showing solidarity with so many around the world who are not able to afford meat or do not have access to it.
**For those vegetarians, it is suggested that they abstain from a favorite non-meal item on the Fridays of Lent in substitution for not eating meat.
Q. Is it just a Catholic thing?
A. Anglican, Lutheran, and some other Protestant churches also hold a special worship service on Ash Wednesday, but they usually do not include the ritual of ashes on the forehead.
Interesting Fact
By the 7th century, the custom had expanded in some churches into a public Ash Wednesday ritual. Sinners confessed their sins privately, then were presented to the bishop and publicly enrolled in the ranks of penitents in preparation for absolution on Holy Thursday. After laying of hands and imposition of ashes, they were expelled from the congregation in imitation of the expelling of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. They lived apart from their families and communities for the forty days of Lent. (thus our word "quarantine) Dressed in sackcloth and ashes, they were identified as penitents in the congregation and sometimes on the steps of the church. Common penances required that these penitents abstain from meat, alcohol, bathing, haircuts, shaves, marriage relations, and business transactions. Depending on the diocese, some penances lasted for years and even a lifetime.
Makes going back to work with ashes on your forehead not seem so bad, right?
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