When and where did this practice start?
2007-02-16 07:10:38 · 17 answers · asked by Maverick 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Sorry.. I mean Catholics.
But where and when did this practice start?
2007-02-16 07:15:14 · update #1
The ashes that are used on Ash Wednesday are made from the palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday (also called Passion Sunday), which is the Sunday just before Easter.
Palm Sunday is the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem with people waving palm fronds to celebrate his arrival. On Palm Sunday today, the priest or bishop blesses palm fronds which are given to the people. After Mass, the people take the blessed palm fronds home and keep them in their houses all year.
The next year, just before Ash Wednesday, the people bring the palm fronds to church and give them to the priest, who burns them to make ashes, which he then blesses. On Ash Wednesday these are used to make the sign of the cross on people's foreheads to symbolize that they belong to Christ and that they are sorry for their sins.
The palm fronds, which symbolized joy on Palm Sunday, now become symbols of the fact we are sorry for our sins. This reflects the joy of the people when Jesus first rode into Jerusalem, which turned to sorrow when he died on the Cross to save them from their sins.
2007-02-16 08:14:26 · answer #1 · answered by Gods child 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
At Masses and services of worship on this day, worshippers are blessed with ashes by the celebrating priest or minister. The priest or minister marks the forehead of each participant with black ashes, in the shape of a cross, which the worshipper traditionally retains until washing it off after sundown. In many Christian churches, the minister of ashes may also be a layperson or non-clergyman. The symbolism echoes the ancient Near Eastern tradition of throwing ash over one's head signifying repentance before God (as related in the Bible). The priest or minister offers the worshipper an instruction while applying the ashes.
I am Lutheran, which is protestant, and we put ashes on our forehead on Ash Wednesday.
2007-02-16 07:22:53 · answer #2 · answered by miss.thang17 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Ash Wednesday marks the start of the season of Lent—a 40-day period where we make sacrifices of atonement (act of penance) by giving things up or doing things extra in order to prepare our hearts for the joy of Easter. On Ash Wednesday, ashes from the burning of palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday are blessed and placed on our foreheads as a sign of penance. In the early Church, public penance was performed by people wearing burlap sacks, who were then sprinkled with ashes. As public penance gradually died out, about the 11th century, the custom of receiving ashes at the beginning of Lent gradually came into full practice throughout the Catholic Church. Protestant churches do not observe Ash Wednesday pretty much generally because protestant churches do not dwell so much on WORKS/ACTS of penance because they believe that we are justified by our faith alone, where we as Catholics believe (as St. James wrote) that we are justified by our faith as demonstrated by our works.
2007-02-16 07:21:23 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
You might be interested to know that the ashes are made from the leaves from Palm Sunday from the prior year.
2007-02-16 07:20:25 · answer #4 · answered by ccrider 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
That would be the Catholics, not the Christians. I just learned about it a couple years ago. I still don't know why they do it. Just another silly man made ritual that the Catholics are famous for.
There is mention in the OT of people in mourning wearing sackcloth and ashes, maybe they took it out of there. ???
2007-02-16 07:15:07 · answer #5 · answered by BaseballGrrl 6 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Catholics do that......not me.
It's supposed to represent the start of the 40 day count down to Easter. The ashes come from the burnt palm branches used on palm Sunday....from what I can recall.
2007-02-16 07:14:25 · answer #6 · answered by primoa1970 7 · 2⤊ 3⤋
In the bible can you tell me where it says about ash puttiing in you forehead
2014-03-05 04:59:48 · answer #7 · answered by Rosalinda` 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When we put ashes on our forehead it is a constant reminder of the the phrase, "Form ashes to ashes; from dust to dust". It signifies our belief in a God who created us from the dust of the earth.
2007-02-16 07:19:10 · answer #8 · answered by stpolycarp77 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Catholics do alot of things that can't be explained...man-made things, not from the Bible...confessing to preists, praying to Mary and other saints....
most of us Christians don't do the ashes thing
2007-02-16 07:28:01 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
Catholics do that, not Christians. It is supposed to show humility, I believe, but, as with most things in the Catholic church, it has been turned into the opposite.
2007-02-16 07:16:20 · answer #10 · answered by J.R. 6 · 0⤊ 4⤋