THE HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASH WEDNESDAY

THE HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF ASH WEDNESDAY

Today is Ash Wednesday, the traditional start of the Lenten season, which falls exactly forty-six days prior to Resurrection Day or Easter.  In some Christian traditions, ashes are applied to the foreheads of Christians, signifying repentance for sins.  The observance of Ash Wednesday dates back to the 8^th century A.D. when it was called “Dies Cinerum,” the day of ashes. 

Aelfric, an Anglo-Saxon abbot, gave us one of the earliest descriptions of this day: “We read in the books, both in the Old Law and 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.”  During the Middle Ages, ashes were sprinkled on the entire head, rather than applied to the forehead as is our practice today.  To underscore the seriousness of the observance of Lent, Aelfric wrote about a man who refused to go to church to be anointed with ashes and was accidentally killed while hunting.  It was indeed a serious day!

The practice of pouring 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 biblical practice. (Job 42:6 – II Samuel 13:19 – Esther 4:1-3 – Jeremiah 6:26 – Ezekiel 27:30 – Daniel 9:3)  Christ, Himself, alludes to this practice in Matthew 11:21 – “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” 

In the typical Ash Wednesday service, believers are summoned to the altar to be anointed with ashes prior to partaking in the sacrament of Holy Communion.  Traditionally, the ashes are applied to the forehead in the shape of the cross while the minister quotes the following scripture: “For dust you are and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19)  Of course, this is the judgment of death that God pronounced upon Adam and Eve subsequent to their disobedience and fall from grace.  On Ash Wednesday, it is a powerful reminder of our own mortality and brief stewardship on earth.  Additionally, it highlights our need to repent and to fully surrender ourselves before the Christ and cross of Calvary.

Some Christians choose to ‘wear’ their ashes all day long as a witness that, though all have sinned, salvation is freely available through the sacrificial atonement of Jesus Christ.  Just like the Lenten season, Ash Wednesday is never mentioned in the scriptures.  However, it is a meaningful celebration whenever it is observed with heartfelt sincerity, true repentance and conscientious discernment of Christ’s sacrifice.  Otherwise, it is merely a superficial act of ritual and religiosity.

The hope of the Lenten season is both embodied and revealed in its dramatic ending: the death, burial and triumphant resurrection of Jesus Christ.  On Resurrection Sunday, our ashes of mourning and repentance are replaced with unspeakable joy!  In the words of the Prophet Isaiah, “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that HE might be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:3)