It had formerly two names: (1) "Caput jejunii," the "head of the fast," and (2) "Dies cinerum." The forty days of Lent, being appointed in memory of our Lord s fast in the wilderness as a season of abstinence, date from the Wednesday of the first week, because it was never the custom to fast on Sundays, and in this way the full number of forty is made up.
A mediaeval title given to the first day of Lent. In that prayer, invocation is made to God "that whosoever shall sprinkle themselves with these ashes for the redemption of their sins may obtain health of body and protection of soul."ĪSH-WEDNESDAY. Before use, the ashes are dedicated previously by a special prayer offered by a bishop. Used for sprinkling persons by the Romish Church. The following articles on Ashes, Ash Wednesday, Fasting, and Lent are taken from A Protestant Dictionary, which was published under the auspices of the Protestant Reformation Society in 1904, and was compiled for Evangelicals in the Church of England and the Church of Ireland.ĪSHES.
This is still a popular tradition with fish becoming the main protein during this period.The 1979 Book of Common Prayer popularized the practice in the Episcopal Church in the closing decades of the twentieth century. It is still common practice to give up meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all Fridays of Lent. This year Pope Francis will hold the Lenten Station Penitential Procession at the Church of Sant’Anselmo and the Holy Mass and Blessing And Imposition of the Ashes at the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome.Īlthough Italy is a strictly Catholic country, where most Catholic holidays are also National holidays, fasting during Lent is no longer a strict requirement but a personal endeavor. The Pope presides at an Ash Wednesday service at a different Roman church every year. The American way of putting ashes on the forehead, usually in the sign of the cross, allows the ashes to be visible to others so that the nature of the day might be more visible. Sprinkling ashes on the crown of the head calls to mind the biblical method of putting on sackcloth and ashes as a sign of penance. In Italy, the blessed ashes are administered by sprinkling them on the crown of the head, rather than by marking the forehead with a cross, which is generally done in the United States.
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