2007-02-22 08:33:47 · 13 answers · asked by sniper 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
In the Western Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and occurs forty-six days before Easter. It falls on different dates from year to year, according to the date of Easter; it can occur as early as February 4 or as late as March 10. Ash Wednesday can fall on Leap Day only during a leap year for which April 15 is Easter Sunday. The next time Ash Wednesday will fall on Leap Day will be in 2096, the first such year since the 1582 adoption of the Gregorian Calendar.
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. These are three examples:
"Remember, man, that you are dust
And unto dust you shall return."
(Latin: Memento homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris.)
This wording comes from Genesis 3:19.
or
"Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel."
or
"Repent, and hear the good news."
The ashes are prepared by burning palm leaves from the previous year's Palm Sunday celebrations and mixing them with olive oil as a fixative. In the Roman Catholic Church, Ash Wednesday is observed by fasting, abstinence (from meat), and repentance—a day of contemplating one's transgressions. The ashes are sacramentals, not a sacrament. The Penitential psalms are read.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season, which lasts until the Easter Vigil. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 are permitted to consume only one full meal, which may be supplemented by two smaller meals, which together should not equal the full meal. Many Catholics will go beyond the minimum obligations demanded by the Church and undertake a complete fast or a bread and water fast. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are also days of abstinence from meat, as are all Fridays in Lent. Many Catholics continue fasting during the whole of lent, as was the Church's traditional requirement, concluding only after the celebration of the Easter Vigil.
The Anglican Book of Common Prayer designates Ash Wednesday as a day of fasting.
"Ash Wednesday" by Carl Spitzweg: the end of CarnivalAs the first day of Lent, it comes the day after Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras, the last day of the Carnival season. The word "Carnival" is in fact derived from Latin carne vale: "farewell, meat".
In 2007, Ash Wednesday falls on February 21. Ash Wednesday will occur on the following dates in the following years:
2007 - February 21
2008 - February 6
2009 - February 25
2010 - February 17
2011 - March 9
2012 - February 22
2013 - February 13
2014 - March 5
2015 - February 18
2016 - February 10
2017 - March 1
2018 - February 14
2019 - March 6
2007-02-22 08:39:46 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
What Does Ash Wednesday Mean
2016-10-07 07:45:23 · answer #2 · answered by riopel 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The ashes imposed on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday are a reminder of our unworthiness and sinfulness sinfulness that corrupts and stains us and leads to death (we return to the dust from whence we came.) Ashes remind us of our original sin and our need of redemption our need to be cleansed of sin and made worthy of Salvation. This is why the priest says, as he imposes ashes on our foreheads, "Remember, man, that you are dust and to dust you will return" [Genesis 3:19] or Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel. [Mark 1:15]
May God bless you
2007-02-22 08:40:05 · answer #3 · answered by ? 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They represent the biblical idea of repentence. In biblical times a person repented "in sack cloth and ashes". The modern custom omits the sack cloth, but a small amount of ashes is still used as a symbol of repentence (as opposed to the ashes they once rubbed all over themselves).
2007-02-22 08:38:40 · answer #4 · answered by PaulCyp 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
According to the Bible there has always been religion. God created Adam and Eve. After the fall they made an alter to worship God. Or atleast Cain and Able made an Altar. So you can call that pre-Judaism because Abraham and Moses wasn't born yet. But of course atheist would say that religion was part of evolution. That man evolved into desiring God.
2016-03-14 02:05:10 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
On Ash Wednesday, ashes are used to make a cross on the foreheads of Catholic members. I recognized that these things are unscriptural and superstitious.
The priest makes the sign of the cross 16 times and blesses the altar with the cross sign 30 times. My question is, Is the cross which took my Savior's life a thing to be adored? Should I parade the instrument of death before the world and be proud of it?
Catholics will never study enough to come to realize that the mark of the beast is the cross.
Centuries before the Christian era, the cross was honored as a religious symbol by the people of Babylon.
It was in 431 A.D. that crosses in churches and chambers were introduced, while the use of the crosses on steeples did not come until about 586 A.D.
2007-02-22 08:51:31 · answer #6 · answered by House Speaker 3 · 1⤊ 4⤋
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.
All are welcome to participate you do not have to be catholic as it is not a sacrament. They are placed on the forehead as a visible sign
2007-02-22 08:42:49 · answer #7 · answered by Gods child 6 · 4⤊ 1⤋
It's actually interesting
2016-09-19 15:41:39 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
What's up, just wanted to say, I enjoyed this discussion. Very valuable replies
2016-08-23 18:59:36 · answer #9 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To remind us that we came from dust and that we will return to dust
2007-02-22 08:37:05 · answer #10 · answered by tebone0315 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋