ORIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASH WEDNESDAY

                             

Ash Wednesday is the name given to the first day of the season of Lent, in which the Priest applies ashes to the foreheads of Christians to signify an inner repentance. But what is the origin and significance of this Christian holy day?

The practice of using ASHES in the Ash wednesday ceremony derives itself from Old Testament liturgy signifying remorse, mourning and repentance supplemrnted with prayer and fasting. There are numerous accounts of individuals from the Bible using sackcloth ( a very rough material typically worn as a sign of mourning and penitence ) and ashes during times of lamentation and repentance.

 For instance, in the book of Esther? Mordecai put on sackcloth and ashes when he heard of the decree of Ahasuerus ( or Xerxes, 485-464 B.C) of Persia to kill all of the Jewish peope in the Persian Empire (Esther 4:1). Job ( whose story was written between the 7th and centuries B.C.) repented in sackcloth ansd ashes (Job 42:6).

The prophet Daniel pleaded for Gos to rescue Israel with sackcloth and ashes as a sign of Israel with sackcloth and ashes as a sign of Israel's repentance: " I turned to the Lord God , pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes" ( Dn 9:3 ).

Perhaps the best known example of repentance in the Old Testament also involves sackcloth and ashes. When the prophet Jonah finally obeyed God's comand and preached in the great city of Nineveh, his preaching was amazingly effective. Word of his message was carried to the king of Nineveh. " When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes" (John. 3:6).

In the book of Judith, we find ats of repentance that specify that the ashes were put on people's head: " And all the Israelite men, women and children who lived in Jerusalem prostrated themselves in front of the temple building, with ashes strewn on their heads, displaying their sackcloth covering before the Lord" ( Judith 4:11 see also 4:15 and 9:1). Just prior to the New Testament period, the rebels fighting for jewish independence, the Maccabees, prepared for battle using ashes: "That day they fasted and wore sackcloth; they sprinkled ashes on their heads and tore their clothes" (1 Maccabese 3:47; see also 4:39)

In the New Testament, Jesus refers to the use of sackcloth and ashes as signs of repentance: Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! for if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented with sackcloth and ashea" (Mathew 11:21, Lk 10:13). In the Middle Ages (at least by the time of the eight century), those who were about to die were laid on the ground on top of sackcloth sprinkled with ashes. The priest would bless the dying person with holy water, saying, "Remember that thou art dust and dust thou shall return." After the sprinkling, the priest asked, " Art thou content with sackcloth and ashes in testimony of thy penance before the Lord in the day of judgement?" to which the dying person reply " I am content." In all these examples, the symbolism of mourning, mortality and penance is clear.

Eventually, the use of ashes was adapted to mark the beginning of Lent, the 40-day preparation period ( not including Sundays) for Easter. In our present liturgy for Ash wednesday, we use ashes made from the burned palm branches distributed on the Palm Sunday of the previous year. The priest blesses the ashes and applies it 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 3:9). This is of course what God spoke to Adam and Eve after they have eaten of the forbidden fruit and fallen into sin. 

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.