ash wednesday
21 Feb
“Remember man that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return.”
On this day all the faithful according to ancient custom are exhorted to approach the altar before the beginning of Mass, and there the priest, dipping his thumb into ashes previously blessed, marks the forehead — or in case of clerics upon the place of the tonsure — of each the sign of the cross, saying the words: “Remember man that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return.” The ashes used in this ceremony are made by burning the remains of the palms blessed on the Palm Sunday of the previous year. In the blessing of the ashes four prayers are used, all of them ancient. The ashes are sprinkled with holy water and fumigated with incense.
The Ash Wednesday is observed by fasting, abstinence from meat, and repentance—a day of contemplating one’s transgressions.
Prepare for Ash Wednesday and Sunday Lent Masses. CLICK HERE
photo: virginia.catholic.org
article: newadvent.org (Catholic Encyclopedia), en.wikipedia.org
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