Q.
What is Ash Wednesday?
A.
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. It leads us to
repentance, new life, and ministry to others. Many people use
the Lenten Season to focus on their relationship with God and
others through self-sacrifice (giving up) and discipline (taking
on). It is a time to prepare for Easter, the celebration of the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Q.
What do the ashes mean?
A.
The ashes are a sign of our mortality and penitence. They are
imposed on a person’s forehead, usually in the form of a cross.
They remind us ultimately of the abundant life promised by Jesus
Christ.
Q.
Where do the ashes come from?
A.
The ashes come from the ashes of the palms leaves from the
previous Palm Sunday, the commemoration of Jesus’ entry into
Jerusalem before his crucifixion.
Q.
Are the ashes hot?
A.
No. The ashes are not hot.
Q. Do
I have to leave the ashes on my forehead all day?
A.
No. Some choose to wipe the ashes off immediately after the
service remembering that Jesus said to “not make a show of your
religion” and to “wash you face” (Matthew 6:1, 17). Others
choose to leave it on as a sign of mortality and penitence.
The
following is the Ash Wednesday service.
The Ash Wednesday service
begins with the following Prayer and Readings.
Almighty and everlasting
God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all
who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts,
that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our
wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect
remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.
Old Testament
Joel 2:1-2,
12-17,
or
Isaiah
58:1-12
Psalm
103,
or
103:8-14
Epistle
2
Corinthians 5:20b––6:10
Gospel
Matthew 6:1-6,
16-21
After the Sermon, all
stand, and the Celebrant invites the people to the observance of a
holy Lent, saying
Dear People of God: The
first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our
Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the
Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting.
This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith
were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who,
because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the
faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and
restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole
congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and
absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need
which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance
and faith. I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to
the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance;
by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating
on God’s holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance,
and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the
Lord, our maker and redeemer.
Silence is then kept for a
time, all kneeling.
The Celebrant says the
following prayer
Almighty God, you have
created us out of the dust of the earth: Grant that these ashes
may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, that we may
remember that it is only by your gracious gift that we are given
everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior.
Amen.
People come forward to
receive ashes. The ashes are imposed with the following words
Remember that you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.
Those who wish to do so,
respond “Amen” at the imposition of ashes.
Traditionally Psalm 51 is
then sung.
Litany of Penitence
The Celebrant and People
together, all kneeling
Most holy and merciful
Father: We confess to you and to one another, and to the whole
communion of saints in heaven and on earth, that we have sinned by
our own fault in thought, word, and deed; by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
The Celebrant continues
We have not loved you with
our whole heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our
neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have
been forgiven.
People: Have mercy on us,
Lord.
We have been deaf to your
call to serve, as Christ served us. We have not been true to the
mind of Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit.
People: Have mercy on us,
Lord.
We confess to you, Lord,
all our past unfaithfulness: the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience
of our lives,
People: We confess to you,
Lord.
Our self-indulgent
appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people,
People: We confess to you,
Lord.
Our anger at our own
frustration, and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves,
People: We confess to you,
Lord.
Our intemperate love of
worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and
work,
People: We confess to you,
Lord.
Our negligence in prayer
and worship, and our failure to commend the faith that is in us,
People: We confess to you,
Lord.
Accept our repentance,
Lord, for the wrongs we have done: for our blindness to human need
and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty,
People: Accept our
repentance, Lord.
For all false judgments,
for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our
prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us,
People: Accept our
repentance, Lord.
For our waste and pollution
of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after
us,
People: Accept our
repentance, Lord.
Restore us, good Lord, and
let your anger depart from us;
People: Favorably hear us,
for your mercy is great.
Accomplish in us the work
of your salvation,
People: That we may show
forth your glory in the world.
By the cross and passion of
your Son our Lord,
People: Bring us with all
your saints to the joy of his resurrection.
The Priest, stands and,
facing the people, says
Almighty God, the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who desires not the death of sinners, but
rather that they may turn from their wickedness and live, has
given power and commandment to his ministers to declare and
pronounce to his people, being penitent, the absolution and
remission of their sins. He pardons and absolves all those who
truly repent, and with sincere hearts believe his holy Gospel.
Therefore we beseech him to grant us true repentance and his Holy
Spirit, that those things may please him which we do on this day,
and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure and holy, so
that at the last we may come to his eternal joy; through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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