The ash cross marking observers' foreheads is meant to represent mortality and penance for their sins. It is applied by a priest during a morning mass, often along with a small blessing: "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return." Many choose to keep it on all day.
The first day of Lent is Ash Wednesday. On this special day of reflection, Catholics wear a marking of the cross in ash on their foreheads. The ashes symbolize our mortality – “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” But you might be wondering, where do the ashes for Ash Wednesday come from?
Ash Wednesday – officially known as the Day of Ashes – is a day of repentance, when Christians confess their sins and profess their devotion to God. During a Mass, a priest places the ashes on a worshiper's forehead in the shape of a cross.
Ash Wednesday is an important day in Christianity. On Wednesday, many Christians will show up to work with ashes smudged on their foreheads. Many more will head to church on their lunch break or after work to receive a cross of ashes on their face.
There is no obligation to leave ashes on the forehead for a particular period of time. Some wipe them off right away, some leave them for the day. Certainly, every Catholic should wipe them away before Easter!
The placing of ashes on the forehead is a tradition with roots in the Old Testament. “I turned to the Lord God, to seek help, in prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.” (Daniel 9:3).
There is no Biblical precedent for cremation. Ultimately, it depends on the personal wishes of the deceased or, if no wishes were left, the feelings and preferences of those making decisions for their final arrangements. If you decide to cremate and scatter ashes, nothing in the Bible prohibits you from doing so.
The ashes symbolize both death and repentance. During this period, Christians show repentance and mourning for their sins, because they believe Christ died for them.
While most Catholics keep them on at least throughout Mass (if they receive them before or during Mass), a person could choose to rub them off immediately. And while many Catholics keep their Ash Wednesday ashes on until bedtime, there's no requirement that they do so.
There is no requirement to keep ashes on the forehead all day or for any period of time after they are given, but many Christians choose to keep them on their foreheads throughout the day on Ash Wednesday.
According to most Biblical study websites, there is no explicit scriptural command for or against cremation. There are no passages that forbid cremation, according to most Biblical scholars.
For most Christians today, the question of cremation is largely left to individual discretion. Many Christians choose cremation as an alternative to burial, while still retaining those aspects of their traditional funeral practices that allow them to honor the lives of their loved ones and glorify God.
It is typical to receive ashes on your forehead in the Sign of the Cross. Similar to taking communion at Mass, you usually process toward the altar to get ashes. The priest will make the Sign of the Cross and say one of two things: “Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.”
The visible anointing of ashes in the sign of the cross signifies to us the fragility of our humanity – you are dust and to dust you shall return – and our desire for the divine.
Volcanic ash is rich in minerals and is an antioxidant and antibacterial exfoliant, that helps to clarify the skin. It can help calm inflammatory skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis and even dandruff.
In the sacrifice of Jesus's crucifixion we are shown the depths of God's love for us and the lengths taken to save us from our sins. And in Jesus's resurrection we see God's triumph over death, pointing toward the promise of eternal life in God's presence.
God is stating that he is going to wipe out the ashes upon your head and replace it with a beautiful headdress. Isaiah also tells us we will be anointed with oil. This was a common practice in his time and was usually done in times of festivity. God is also going to clothe his people with a garment of praise.
The newest guidelines from the Vatican state that Catholic people can be cremated, but their ashes should not be scattered at sea, and the urn should not be kept in the home. The guidelines state that the cremains should be kept in a sacred place like a church cemetery.
As a Catholic, may I be cremated? Yes. In May 1963, the Vatican's Holy Office (now the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith) lifted the prohibition forbidding Catholics to choose cremation.
“Catholic teachings tell us to refrain from eating meat on Fridays as an act of penance," Sheila Wolf LeBouef wrote. "Friday is a day of penitence, as it is believed Christ died on a Friday. Everyone has the right to either eat meat or not.
However, it's important to remember that the Bible does not explicitly prohibit or endorse cremation or the keeping of ashes. Ultimately, the decision of what to do with the ashes of a loved one is a personal one, and should be made based on what feels right for the family.
One of my favorite passages in the Bible comes from Isaiah 61:3 “…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair”.
The Bible makes several references to dust to dust and ashes to ashes. Some include: In the book of Genesis 3:19 the reference to ashes and dust reads, "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
When Isaiah promises beauty for ashes, he was encouraging us to look ahead. He was reminding us that things of this world will pass, and we need not anguish in our clinging to the beauty we thought once was. Isaiah was heralding a new covenantal relationship with God.
O God, who desire not the death of sinners, but their conversion, mercifully hear our prayers and, in your kindness, be pleased to bless + these ashes, that we, who acknowledge we are but ashes and shall return to dust, may, through a steadfast observance of Lent, gain pardon for sins and newness of life after the ...