REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE DUST... The Spiritual Significance of Ash Wednesday’s Liturgical Celebration.
INTRODUCTION
Pope St. Clement I in his letter to the Church in Corinth avers, “For we have only to survey the generations of the past to see that in every one of them the Lord has offered the chance of repentance to anyone who was willing to turn to him. When Noah preached repentance, those who gave heed to him were saved. When, after Jonah had proclaimed destruction to the people of Nineveh, they repented of their sins and made atonement to God with prayers and supplications, they obtained salvation, notwithstanding that they were strangers and aliens to him.” (The Second Office of Reading for Ash Wednesday, The Divine Office, Vol. II (Lent and Easter), p. 6).
Taking a lift from St. Clement’s epistle to the Corinthians one will not in any way deny God’s ever-readiness to welcome us back no matter how scarlet or crimson our sins may be. The only thing He asks of us is our willingness to return to Him. Recalling the prophecy of Ezekiel, “If a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all God’s decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of his offences will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done he will live.” (Ezekiel 18:21-22). This same proclamation was made by Christ inviting you and me to repent of our sins for the kingdom of God is at hand. (cf. Matt 4:17).
It is against this background that the Church invites us into the solemn season of Lent beginning with the service of Ash Wednesday, as a preparation for the forty-day-long walk of prayer, fasting and almsgiving with the Lord. The term “Ash” refers to earthly or mineral combustible substances remaining after combustion, such as wood or coal. It may also be designated with the term “dust”. Within the context of this work, we will use both terms interchangeably. In light of this unique event in the economy of salvation of man, we will take a look at the biblical imports, historical dimensions of the Ash Wednesday liturgy, the rite of imposition of ashes, as well as its spiritual significance in our liturgical and spiritual lives.
*BIBLICAL BACKGROUND*
There are various instances both in the Hebrew and Christian Testaments (Old and New Testaments) where God invites man to reconciliation. In the New Testament account, Christ employed the parables of the lost sheep, coin and prodigal son to remind us of God’s unfathomable mercy depending on our willingness and acceptance to return to Him. (cf. Matthew 18:12-14; Luke15:8-10; Luke 15:11-32).
On the other hand, Prophet Joel in the Old Testament account invites the people of Israel to return to the Lord with all their hearts, with fasting, weeping and mourning. (cf. Joel 2:12-13). Malachi also prophesied to the Israelites God’s willingness to return to them if they are willing and ready to return to Him. (cf. Malachi 3:7). Ezekiel further revealed that God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked (cf. Ezekiel 18:23). In the same way that Isaiah reminded the people of Israel of God’s invitation to sinners to depart from their old ways. (cf. Isaiah 55:7). Now the question is. How do they approach the “throne of mercy” for the forgiveness of their sins? The Holy Scripture has cited various instances and approaches of seeking God’s face for repentance by the people of the Old. The scripture narrates various forms of the penitential acts. Among them were: putting on sackcloth, weeping, mourning, sitting on ashes, rubbing ashes, fasting, etc. But our concern is the act involving fasting and ashes which are part of the Ash Wednesday liturgical rite.
In the Old Testament ashes and dust were used as signs of mortality and worthlessness, sorrow and repentance. Now let us take a closer look at instances where ashes were used as a penitential gesture. When Tamar was raped by her half-brother, "she sprinkled ashes on her head, tore her robe, and with her face buried in her hands went away crying" (2 Samuel 13:19). The sign was used to express sorrow for sins and faults. In Job 42: 6, Job says to God: “Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes”." The prophet Jeremiah calls for repentance by saying: "O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, roll in the ashes" (Jeremiah 6:26). The prophet Daniel recounted pleading to God: "I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes" (Daniel 9:3). Just before the New Testament period, the rebels fighting for Jewish independence, the Maccabees, prepared for battle using ashes: "That day they fasted and wore sackcloth; they sprinkled ashes on their heads and tore their clothes" (1 Maccabees 3:47; see also 4:39). In the New Testament account Christ alluded to this saying: "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” (Matthew 11:21).
In view of these scriptural passages, we have seen the basic events where ashes were used. It symbolically represents “metanoia” that is repentance or changing one’s way of life being the focal point for this reflection. At this juncture, let us take a step into the historical background of the Ash Wednesday liturgy and how ashes came into the celebration.
*THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF ASH WEDNESDAY LITURGY*
Historically, the ashes of burned objects such as plants, animals, human bodies and dust are commonly found in use among ancient peoples for religious, magical and medical purposes. Among these ashes, there are certain ashes or dusts that have a sacred character and power, above all, ashes or dust signify mortality, mourning and penance or repentance. In line with this ritual, Christian liturgical usage and symbolism of ashes or dust is traced to Jewish tradition.
Presently, the Roman liturgy uses ashes only on Ash Wednesday. The practice of all the faithful receiving ashes on their heads has been a universal act since the synod of Benevento in 1091AD. However, this was known by the Anglo-Saxons a century earlier. The first prayer for the blessing of the ashes gives them a sacred character as sacramental for healing from sin; the other three prayers and the formula of imposition express their symbolism of mortality. Originally ashes were used as signs of private penance; then they became a part of the official ritual for public penitents and were given to them only. (cf. Johnson, E. J., Ashes, Liturgical Use Of, New Catholic Encyclopaedia, Vol. I USA: Jack Heraty & Associates, Inc., 1967, p.948).
Christians continued the practice of using ashes as an external sign of repentance. Tertullian (c. 160 – c. 225) said that confession of sin should be accompanied by lying in sackcloth and ashes. The great Church historian Eusebius (c. 260/265 – 339/340) recounts how a repentant apostate Pope Zephyrinus covered himself with ashes when begging to be readmitted into communion with the Church. John W. Fenton writes that: "by the end of the 10th century, it was customary in Western Europe (but not yet in Rome) for all the faithful to receive ashes on the first day of the Lenten fast. In 1091, this custom was then ordered by Pope Urban II at the Council of Benevento to be extended to the church in Rome. Not long after that, the name of the day was referred to in the liturgical books as "Feria Quarta Cinerum" (i.e. Ash Wednesday)." (cf. Fenton, J. W., "Orthodox Ash Wednesday", Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate, 2013).
The public penance that grave sinners underwent before being admitted to Holy Communion just before Easter lasted throughout Lent, on the first day of which they were sprinkled with ashes and dressed in sackcloth.
At the dusk of the first millennium, the discipline of public penance was dropped, and the season of Lent, seen as a general penitential period, was marked by sprinkling ashes on the heads of all during the Ash Wednesday liturgy to date. This practice is found in the Gregorian Sacramentary of the late 8th century. ("Ash Wednesday". Encyclopaedia Britannica).
ASH WEDNESDAY’S LITURGICAL RITE AND ITS SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE
Ash Wednesday marks the start of a 40-day period which is an allusion to the separation of Jesus from people to desert for fasting and prayer. During this time He was tempted. (cf. Matthew 4:1–11, Mark 1:12–13, and Luke 4:1–13). While not specifically instituted in the Bible text, the 40-day period of repentance is also analogous to the 40 days during which Moses repented and fasted in response to the making of the Golden calf. (cf. Exodus 34:27-28). In the Jewish religious setting to date, the Jews follow 40 days of repentance in preparation for and during the High Holy Days from Rosh Chodesh Elul to Yom Kippur (the day of atonement).
Ash Wednesday is observed by fasting, abstinence from meat and repentance. In Western Christianity, it is the first day of Lent. It occurs 46 days (40 fasting days, if the six Sundays, which are not days of fast, are excluded) before Easter and can fall as early as February 4 or as late as March 10. Ash Wednesday is observed by many Western Christians. The day derives its name from the practice of blessing ashes made from Palm branches blessed on the previous year's Palm Sunday, and placing them on the foreheads of participants to the accompaniment of the words "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return", an extract from the Old Testament (cf. Genesis 3:19).
In the 1969 revision of the Roman Rite, an alternative formula based on Mark 1:15, “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” was introduced and given first place. The old formula, based on the words spoken to Adam and Eve after their sin, reminds worshippers of their sinfulness and mortality and thus, implicitly, of their need to repent in time. (cf. Bucher, R. P., "The History and Meaning of Ash Wednesday" as culled from "Ash Wednesday". Encyclopaedia Britannica). The newer formula makes explicit what was only implicit in the old.
However, the act of imposition of ashes varies; various manners of placing the ashes on worshippers' heads are in use within the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, the two most common formulae are using the ashes to make a cross on the forehead and sprinkling the ashes over the crown of the head. Originally, the ashes were strewn over men's heads, but, probably because women had their heads covered in church, were placed on the foreheads of women. In the Catholic Church, the manner of imposing ashes depends largely on local custom, but the general custom is to use it to make the sign of the cross on the forehead.
Consequently, the significance of this religious act cannot be overemphasised, as we are always and at every point in time in need of God’s mercy and compassion. It is a moment of return to the Lord with prayer, fasting and repentance. The service of Ash Wednesday puts us in the right liturgical atmosphere to begin the forty days of a long walk with the Lord. Ashes remain a sacramental. Their reception with humility is a sign of penance. We wear them publicly to acknowledge our need to atone for our sins. "God desires not the death of the sinner." He is moved by our humiliation, and His justice is appeased by satisfaction, says Eileen O'Callaghan. It symbolizes the transience of our earthly status. The body must fall temporarily into dust. This fact should serve as a challenge to spiritual accomplishments. Through grace we were "buried" in Christ that we may rise with him and "live unto God."
CONCLUSION
Recalling the words of Thomas Merton, “Even the darkest moments of the liturgy are filled with joy. And Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lent fast, is a day of happiness, a Christian feast. It cannot be otherwise, as it forms part of the great Easter cycle.” In this spirit, the service of Ash Wednesday should ignite in us a spark of joy for yet another great moment the Church has offered us to reconcile with the Father. It goes beyond the outward wearing of the ashes on our foreheads in the public. The primary spot of this celebration is our heart. As Fr. Saunders a one-time President of the Notre Dame Institute for Catechetics says: “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 fulfilment in heaven.”
Finally, my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord; let us join the Mother Church in the celebration of this liturgy for the sanctification of our souls by making sincere effort in putting ourselves within the ambience of this solemn season. To crown it all, reflect with me on the words of St. John Baptiste Marie Vianney who avers “At the time that we deprive ourselves of anything which gives pleasure to do, we are practising a fast which is pleasing to God because fasting does not consist solely of privations in the way of eating and drinking, but of denying ourselves what pleases us most”.
Peace be with you!
18022026
2026 Ash Wednesday
