Ash Wednesday is the name given to the first day of
the season of Lent, in which the Pastor applies ashes to the foreheads
of Christians to signify an inner repentance. But what is the history
and the meaning of this Christian holy day?
Ash Wednesday, originally called dies cinerum
(day of ashes) is mentioned in the earliest copies of the Gregorian
Sacramentary, and probably dates from at least the 8th Century. One of
the earliest descriptions of Ash Wednesday is found in the writings of
the Anglo-Saxon abbot Aelfric (955-1020). In his Lives of the Saints, he
writes, "We read in the books both in the Old Law and in the New that
the men who repented of their sins bestrewed themselves with ashes and
clothed their bodies with sackcloth. Now let us do this little at the
beginning of our Lent that we strew ashes upon our heads to signify that
we ought to repent of our sins during the Lenten fast." Aelfric then
proceeds to tell the tale of a man who refused to go to church for the
ashes and was accidentally killed several days later in a boar hunt!
This quotation confirms what we know from other sources, that throughout
the Middle Ages ashes were sprinkled on the head, rather than anointed
on the forehead as in our day.
As Aelfric suggests, the pouring of ashes on one's
body (and dressing in sackcloth, a very rough material) as an outer
manifestation of inner repentance or mourning is an ancient practice. It
is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. What is probably the
earliest occurrence is found at the very end of the book of Job. Job,
having been rebuked by God, confesses, "Therefore I despise myself and
repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:6). Other examples are found in 2
Samuel 13:19, Esther 4:1,3, Isaiah 61:3, Jeremiah 6:26, Ezekiel 27:30,
and Daniel 9:3. In the New Testament, Jesus alludes to the practice in
Matthew 11:21: "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the
miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and
Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes."
In the typical Ash Wednesday observance, Christians
are invited to the altar to receive the imposition of ashes, prior to
receiving the holy Supper. The Pastor applies ashes in the shape of the
cross on the forehead of each, while speaking the words, "For dust you
are and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19). This is of course what
God spoke to Adam and Eve after they eaten of the forbidden fruit and
fallen into sin. These words indicated to our first parents the
bitterest fruit of their sin, namely death. In the context of the Ash
Wednesday imposition of ashes, they remind each penitent of their
sinfulness and mortality, and, thus, their need to repent and get right
with God before it is too late. The cross reminds each penitent of the
good news that through Jesus Christ crucified there is forgiveness for
all sins, all guilt, and all punishment.
Many Christians choose to leave the ashes on their
forehead for the remainder of the day, not to be showy and boastful (see
Matthew 6:16-18). Rather, they do it as a witness that all people are
sinners in need of repentance AND that through Jesus all sins are
forgiven through faith.
Ash Wednesday, like the season of Lent, is never
mentioned in Scripture and is not commanded by God. Christians are free
to either observe or not observe it. It also should be obvious that the
imposition of ashes, like similar external practices, are meaningless,
even hypocritical, unless there is a corresponding inner repentance and
change of behavior. This is made clear in Isaiah 58:5-7 when God says,
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a
day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a
reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes ? Is that what you call a
fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? 6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I
have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of
the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to
share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with
shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away
from your own flesh and blood?
With this in mind,
however, the rite of ashes on Ash Wednesday is heartily recommended to
the Christian as a grand opportunity for repentance and spiritual
renewal within the framework of confession and absolution. A blessed Ash
Wednesday observance to all.
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