A reader recently wrote in asking: \u201cWould it be wrong to encourage people to self-impose ashes on Ash Wednesday, as a sign of their repentance?\u201d<\/p>\n
In the Roman Rite, ashes are placed on the heads of the faithful on Ash Wednesday after being blessed by the priest. The rubric following the blessing of the ashes states: \u201cThen the Priest places ashes on the head of all those present who come to him, and says to each one: Repent, and believe in the Gospel.<\/strong> Or: Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n Most services I have attended utilize lay men and women to help with the distribution of the ashes. The ashes are traced in a cross on the heads of the faithful. This seems to be a matter of custom and is not required.<\/p>\n In one service I attended, the ashes were distributed by the persons in the pews. Your neighbor on your right would place the ashes on your head, then you would place the ashes on the head of your neighbor to the left. This was a powerful experience.<\/p>\n I do not think, however, it is a good idea to place ashes on your own head. Liturgy often entails ritual acts being done to us (baptism by water, anointing of chrism, etc.) and I think our passivity in ritual performance is important, especially in an age where we are used to acting as autonomous individuals.<\/p>\n I am curious, however, what your community does for Ash Wednesday. How does your community distribute ashes?<\/p>\n Please comment below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A reader recently wrote in asking: \u201cWould it be wrong to encourage people to self-impose ashes on Ash Wednesday, as a sign of their repentance?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[91,3813],"tags":[2560],"class_list":["post-29221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-liturgical-year","category-non-solum","tag-non-solum"],"yoast_head":"\n