For
this year 2014, Ash Wednesday falls on March 5. It marks
the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and
fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through
which we attain redemption.
Read Pope
Francis' Lenten 2014 Message here.
Why we receive the ashes?
Our foreheads are marked with ashes
to humble our hearts and to remind us that life passes away on Earth. We
remember this when we are told, "Remember,
Man is dust, and unto dust you shall return."
Ashes are a symbol of penance made
sacramental by the blessing of the Church, and they help us develop a spirit of
humility and sacrifice.
The distribution of ashes comes from
a ceremony of ages past. Christians who had committed grave faults performed
public penance. On Ash Wednesday, the Bishop blessed the hair shirts which they
were to wear during the forty days of penance, and sprinkled over them ashes
made from the palms from the previous year. Then, while the faithful recited
the Seven Penitential Psalms, the penitents were turned out of the church
because of their sins -- just as Adam, the first man, was turned out of
Paradise because of his disobedience. The penitents did not enter the church
again until Maundy Thursday after having won reconciliation by the toil of
forty days' penance and sacramental absolution. Later, all Christians, whether
public or secret penitents, came to receive ashes out of devotion. In earlier
times, the distribution of ashes was followed by a penitential procession.
The Ashes
The ashes are made from the blessed
palms used in the Palm Sunday celebration of the previous year. The ashes are
christened with Holy Water and are scented by exposure to incense. While the
ashes symbolize penance and contrition, they are also a reminder that God is
gracious and merciful to those who call on Him with repentant hearts. His
Divine mercy is of utmost importance during the season of Lent, and the Church
calls on us to seek that mercy during the entire Lenten season with reflection,
prayer and penance.
Universal Fast and Abstinence
“Ash Wednesday is a day of the universal Fast
and Abstinence in the Church.
To sum up those requirements,
Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 are obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday
and Good Friday. In addition, all Catholics 14 years old and older must abstain
from meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and all the Fridays of Lent.
Fasting as explained by the U.S.
bishops means partaking of only one full meal. Some food (not equaling another
full meal) is permitted at breakfast and around midday or in the
evening—depending on when a person chooses to eat the main or full meal.
Abstinence forbids the use of meat,
but not of eggs, milk products or condiments made of animal fat.
Abstinence does not include meat
juices and liquid foods made from meat. Thus, such foods as chicken broth, consommé,
soups cooked or flavored with meat, meat gravies or sauces, as well as
seasonings or condiments made from animal fat are not forbidden. So it is
permissible to use margarine and lard. Even bacon drippings which contain
little bits of meat may be poured over lettuce as seasoning.
Each year in publishing the Lenten
penance requirements, the U.S. bishops quote the teaching of the Holy Father
concerning the seriousness of observing these days of penance. The obligation
to do penance is a serious one; the obligation to observe, as a whole or
"substantially," the days of penance is also serious.
But no one should be scrupulous in
this regard; failure to observe individual days of penance is not considered
serious. Moral theologians remind us that some people are excused from fasting
and/or abstinence because of sickness or other reasons.
In his "Apostolic Constitution
on Penance," Pope Paul VI did more than simply reorganize Church law
concerning fast and abstinence. He reminded us of the divine law that each of
us in our own way do penance. We must all turn from sin and make reparation to
God for our sins. We must forgive and show love for one another just as we ask
for God's love and forgiveness.
The Code of Canon Law and our
bishops remind us of other works and means of doing penance: prayer, acts of
self-denial, almsgiving and works of personal charity. Attending Mass daily or
several times a week, praying the rosary, making the way of the cross,
attending the parish evening prayer service, teaching the illiterate to read,
reading to the blind, helping at a soup kitchen, visiting the sick and shut-ins
and giving an overworked mother a break by baby-sitting—all of these can be
even more meaningful and demanding than simply abstaining from meat on Friday.
References:
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