Ashes: The Story

“Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.”

Christians in many traditions are hearing words such as these today as they receive ashes as a sign of their mortality and desire to do penance.

Not all Christians, to be sure. Eastern Orthodoxy does not have Ash Wednesday. Neither does the Catholic diocese of Milan, Italy, which follows the ancient Ambrosian rite and begins its penitential season on the first Sunday of Lent.

For those who do, where do they get their ashes? They are burnt from the palms from Passion Sunday (better known as Palm Sunday) of the preceding year. Parishes either save leftover palms, or else buy palms-burnt-to-ashes from a church supply company.

Ashes have a long history. It is a tradition in the Old and New Testament to put on sack clothes and ashes as an external sign of repentance. Various Christian writers of early centuries make references to individual Christians following this custom.

From the beginning of the 6th century, the Lenten fast was begun on Ash Wednesday in Rome so as to have a forty-day fast (not counting Sundays) before Easter. There is record in the 8th century of the pope processing with the congregation on this day to St. Sabina on the Aventine for the liturgy. During the procession the people sang “Let us don sackcloth and ashes.”

North of the Alps, it was not enough for this chant to have merely spiritual and symbolic meaning, so the rite of imposing ashes was developed. The practice spread southward into Italy, and in 1091 a council in Benevento decreed that everyone – clergy and laity, men and women – receive ashes. Eventually this became the practice in Rome itself, for by the 13th century the pope also received ashes.

In the U.S., ashes are generally applied to the forehead during the liturgy. In Rome the custom is to sprinkle ashes on the head of the person.

Contrary to what some mistakenly believe, Ash Wednesday is not a Holy Day of Obligation in the Roman Catholic Church.

The current Roman rite has two options for the text at imposition – either the famous Memento homo, quia pulvis es… cited above, which is from the 3rd chapter of Genesis, or the line from first chapter of the Gospel of Mark, “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” As evangelically powerful as the line from Mark is, one may regret that the striking line from Genesis is not universal for Catholics.

The ELCA 2006 hymnal Evangelical Lutheran Worship says that the people may stand or kneel to receive ashes. The minister says “Remember that you are dust…” The same line is given in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church for the giving of ashes.

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Anthony Ruff, OSB

Fr. Anthony Ruff, OSB, is a monk of St. John's Abbey. He teaches liturgy, liturgical music, and Gregorian chant at St. John's University School of Theology-Seminary. He is widely published and frequently presents across the country on liturgy and music. He is the author of Sacred Music and Liturgical Reform: Treasures and Transformations, and of Responsorial Psalms for Weekday Mass: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter. He does priestly ministry at the neighboring community of Benedictine sisters in St. Joseph.

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8 responses to “Ashes: The Story”

  1. Jim Pauwels

    The priests with whom I’ve collaborated over the years, almost to a man, seem to prefer the line from Mark rather than the line from Genesis. I don’t know why.

    When I give ashes, I bounce back and forth between the two formulas.

    Reply
  2. Paul Inwood

    A recent Facebook thread told of a pastor who last year forgot to order ashes for Ash Wednesday. His solution? Use photocopier toner. Apparently his parishioners had the cross on their foreheads for about a week before they could get it all off…. I do hope this is apocryphal, but I fear it may not be.

    Reply
  3. Alan Griffiths

    I used to think that the most appropriate source for Ash Wednesday was cigarette and cigar ash. I tried this one out on a friend, but she thought that the joke was a bit too near the knuckle !

    By the way, why have the ashing in the middle of Mass? It used to be at the beginning of the Liturgy, I think a much better place.

    AG.

    Reply
    1. Paul Inwood

      For many years liturgists have suggested that the penitential act at Mass should come after the Liturgy of the Word, when the readings will have provided a context for repentance, before bringing gifts to the altar. It’s useful to be able to point to Ash Wednesday as an occasion when this actually happens.

      Cf. also Benedict XVI’s desire to move the sign of peace and reconciliation to the same point in the Mass (Sacramentum Caritatis, 2007, footnote 150). This would follow a repositioned penitential act.

      Reply
      1. Karl Liam Saur

        Though in Benedict XVI’s case, it’s not clear if it was his personal desire let alone for the potential reason offered – if memory serves, there were those whose real reason for suggesting that move was to move what they viewed as a disruptive liturgical moment further away from the rite of Communion. In any event, nothing came of it. For that matter, it’s not clear that moving the ritual moment around would necessarily have the desired effect on the faithful in a durable way that could be properly evaluated.

      2. John Kohanski

        That is precisely how it’s done in the Episcopal Church: Sermon, Creed, prayers of the people, confession/absolution, and the peace. Perhaps the Holy Father saw an Church of England Mass when he was in England and that’s where he got the idea? It does remove the disruption so close to the reception of Holy Communion and the fraction and co-mingling become more apparent. The liturgy of the Eucharist flows much more smoothly.

  4. Michael H. Marchal

    It would be more accurate to say that the Ambrosian Rite is used in the province of Milan since there are several suffragan sees that observe it as well. Yet the ashes are a powerful symbols According to the postconciliar Missale Ambrosianum, ashes may now be distributed after Mass on the 1st Sunday or on Monday. The Maronites created Ash Monday.

    In regard to the formula, the tradition “dust” one expresses an insight that is not particularly Christian. The Marcan quote is much more apropos as we begin the journey with the elect towards celebrating the paschal mystery.

    In regard to penitential rites, I think it a case can be made that the first time that the Roman Rite had an penitential rite was after Vatican II. The ministers in the Tridentine Mass had several of them, continuing the tradition of the “apologiae.” Yet the people never had one since, as someone whom I can’t remember remarked, when communion was distributed to the people, the rite of communion outside Mass was inserted into Mass.

    Reply
  5. Jack Feehily

    We have three services on Ash Wednesday. Two of those consist of the Liturgy of the Word culminating with the distribution of ashes. Prior to the blessing of the ashes, I ask the people if they are ready to turn away from their sins and believe the Good News to which they respond “I am”. No further words are spoken as ashes are imposed. Accordingly the Ash Wednesday Mass concludes with the distribution of ashes. All called to repent know very well that we are dust and unto dust we shall return.

    Reply

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