Today is Ash Wednesday. It is the beginning of the liturgical season of Lent. The day gets its name from the historic Christian practice of retaining the palm branches that adorned the church sanctuary on the previous year’s Palm Sunday. In making ready for Ash Wednesday the church burns the palms and then the priest/pastor applies the ashes in the shape of a cross to the foreheads of those who worship on that day. Wearing ashes is a traditional sign of penitence.
In the Bible persons frequently wore ashes as expressions of
grief or penitence (2 Samuel 13, Job 42, Jeremiah 6, Daniel 9, Hebrews 9, Matthew
11 and Luke 10 among others).
When Christian worshipers receive the imposition of ashes in
worship, the presider usually says some form of Genesis 3:19, "Remember
that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." The presider will often conclude with, “Repent,
and believe in the gospel.”
Because the date of Ash Wednesday depends on the timing of
Easter, this observance moves around the calendar a bit. It can fall anywhere between February 4 and
March 10.
Ash Wednesday marks the commencement of the season of Lent. These are the forty days immediately preceding Easter (excluding Sundays, which are reflections of Easter Day itself and are therefore inappropriate occasions for denial).
Some folks erroneously teach that Lent is an extended period
of “getting ready for Easter.” Lawrence
Hull Stookey reminds us that
Lent,
until its final week, is a time of disciplined consideration of our life and
death as transformed by our covenant with God and is closely related to the
administration and reaffirmation of baptism at Easter.1
This season is a kettle that
sits on its own bottom. It is related to
– but independent of – our observance of Easter.
The liturgical color for the
day (and season) is purple. This is a
solemn hue that represents penitence in the lives of Christians.
The liturgy for the day includes
confession and absolution in preparation for the imposition of ashes. Psalm 51 is a traditional expression of
confession and many churches use this as part of their ritual for the day.
1 Lzwrence Hull Stookey, Calendar: Christ's Time for the Church
(Nashville: Abingdon, 1996).
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