What Do The Ashes Represent On Ash Wednesday

This tradition originated in the catholic church in the 12th century.

Ash wednesday in the roman rite of the catholic church is focused not surprisingly on the imposition of. In some parishes the priest collects the people s palms to burn them for that year s ash wednesday. During mass the ashes which give ash wednesday its name are distributed. Ash wednesday is a christian holy day of prayer and fasting it is preceded by shrove tuesday and falls on the first day of lent the six weeks of penitence before easter ash wednesday is traditionally observed by western christians it is observed by catholics in the roman rite anglicans lutherans methodists moravians and independent catholics as well as by many from the reformed faith.

Ash wednesday comes from the ancient jewish tradition of penance and fasting. The priest blesses the ashes and imposes them on the foreheads of the faithful making the sign of the cross and saying remember man you are dust and to dust you shall return or turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel. The practice includes the wearing of ashes on the head. A priest deacon or eucharistic minister may apply ashes on ash wednesday what symbols represent lent.

Andrew renneisen getty images. As the priest applies the ashes to a person s forehead he speaks the words. Many churches ask their parishioners to return any palms that they took home so that they can be burned. Traditionally the priest or pastor creates the ashes used on ash wednesday by burning the palm branches used on palm sunday the year before.

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Ashes have a long tradition in the catholic church finding its roots in the old testament. The ashes are made by burning the blessed palms that were distributed the previous year on palm sunday. The fine ash from the palm branches is mixed with holy water to make the ash paste used to mark the worshipers foreheads. Ashes are an ominous sign and we use them on ash wednesday to remind ourselves of our own impending deaths.

In our present liturgy for ash wednesday we use ashes made from the burned palm branches distributed on the palm sunday of the previous year. The ashes are made from palms which were carried on palm sunday the year before. Death may come sooner or it may come later but it will surely come. The ashes symbolize the dust from which god made us.