Preperation for Lent
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent for Western Christian churches. It's a day of penitence to clean the soul before the Lent fast.
Roman Catholic, Anglican, and some other churches hold special services at which worshippers are marked with ashes as a symbol of death, and sorrow for sin.
Ash Wednesday services
The service draws on the ancient Biblical traditions of covering one's head with ashes, wearing sackcloth, and fasting.
The mark of ashes
In Ash Wednesday services churchgoers are marked on the forehead with a cross of ashes as a sign of penitence and mortality.
The use of ashes, made by burning palm crosses from the previous Palm Sunday, is very symbolic.
God our Father, you create us from the dust of the earth.
Grant that these ashes may be for us a sign of our penitence, and a symbol of our mortality
The minister or priest marks each worshipper on the forhead, and says remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return, or a similar phrase based on God's sentence on Adam in Genesis 3:19.
The modern practice in Roman Catholic churches nowadays as the ashes are being administered, is for the priest to say something like Turn away from sin and believe the gospel.
Keeping the mark
At some churches the worshippers leave with the mark still on their forehead so that they carry the sign of the cross out into the world.
At other churches the service ends with the ashes being washed off as a sign that the participants have been cleansed of their sins.
Symbolism of the ashes
The marking of their forehead with a cross made of ashes reminds each churchgoer that:
1.)Death comes to everyone
2.)They should be sad for their sins
3.)They must change themselves for the better
4.)God made the first human being by breathing life into dust, and without God, human beings are nothing more than dust and ashes
5.)It's also a reminder of the mark of the cross made at baptism
6.)The phrase often used when the ashes are administered reminds Christians of the doctrine of original sin.
7.)The cross of ashes may symbolise the way Christ's sacrifice on the cross as atonement for sin replaces the Old Testament tradition of making burnt offerings to atone for sin.
8.)Where the ashes come from
9.)The ashes used on Ash Wednesday are made by burning the palm crosses that were blessed on the previous Palm Sunday.
10)Ashes can also be bought from Church suppliers. A bag of ashes big enough for 1000 people costs around ś8.
Ashes and oil
The ash is sometimes mixed with anointing oil, which makes sure that the ashes make a good mark.
The use of anointing oil also reminds the churchgoer of God's blessings and of the anointing that took place at their baptism.
From Palm Sunday to Ash Wednesday
Palm Sunday celebrates Jesus's triumphant entry into Jerusalem, so when the crosses used in the Palm Sunday service are converted to ashes, the worshippers are reminded that defeat and crucifixion swiftly followed triumph.
But using the ashes to mark the cross on the believer's forehead symbolises that through Christ's death and resurrection, all Christians can be free from sin.
Information on:
Palm Sunday
Which Day?
Christian Holiday
History of Palm Sunday
Holly Week
Ash Wednesday
Easter History>
Easter in U.S.
A walk through the Holy Week
The icons of Easter
Easter
Lent
Preperation for Lent
The Day of Resurrection
Jokes for Easter:
Page One
Page Two
Page Three
Poems on Easter:
Easter comes but once a year
In all the world
The Crucifixion
Funny Bunny
Rowena Bennett
Easter Holiday
Easter Bunny
Easter Bunny Hugs And Kisses
Easter Bunny Poop
Calendar showing Palm Sunday
Calendar showing Ash Wednesday
Calendar showing Easter
|
|
|
|
