The History of Ash Wednesday

This year, Ash Wednesday is on February 6. Christians of many denominations will attend church services and have ashes placed on their foreheads. So what does it mean? According to A Dictionary for United Methodists, ashes are an outward symbol for one's inner sorrow for having sinned. By putting ashes on our forehead, we are acknowledging that we have sinned, and feel remorse for those sins. Appropriately, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a forty-day season of fasting and repentance before Easter, and occurs forty days before Good Friday (excluding Sundays).

The tradition began in the Catholic Church, who attained their ashes by burning the palms from Palm Sunday. Most Christian churches now follow this tradition. The ashes symbolize mourning. As today we may wear a black armband or dress all in black to show we are in mourning, biblical societies used ashes for this purpose. According to Reverend Ken Collins, an ordained minister of the Churches Uniting in Christ, in these pre-technological times, wood fires were used for many household tasks, and keeping ashes under control was a constant duty. If a person became distracted, for example, by the death of a family member, ash control would be neglected and the distracted person would have ashes on his or her clothing or face.

A Biblical example of ashes being used as a symbol of repentance can be found in Job 42:6, in which Job says, "Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes" (NIV). Ashes used as a symbol of mourning can be found in 2nd Samuel 13:19: "Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the ornamented robe she was wearing. She put her hand on her head and went away, weeping aloud as she went" (NIV). Though both Job and 2nd Samuel appear in the Old Testament, New Testament Christians use this tradition to show mourning for the pending death of Christ.

Lutheran Worship: History and Practice offers that the ashes also symbolize our "dust-to-dustness," our being born of dust and future return to dust. The ashes also make the wearer look and feel dirty, serving as a reminder to cleanse himself or herself, body and soul. Submitting to ashes is an act of humility. And, as many pastors will attest, just few burned palms make many, many ashes, which can also represent how widespread and abundant sin is.

AmericanCatholic.org states, "the first clearly datable liturgy for Ash Wednesday that provides for sprinkling ashes is in the Romano-Germanic pontifical of 960 [CE]," and cites the use of palms for ashes beginning in the twelfth century. Ash Wednesday readings commonly focus on conversion, with the Book of Joel being a popular choice.

So if you take a trip to church on February 6, don't be surprised if friends, co-workers, or passersby tell you that you have a smudge of dirt on your forehead, and suggest that you wash it off. Thank them.

AmericanCatholic.org, "Ash Wednesday: Our Shifting Understanding of Lent"
James Leonard Brower (1993). Lutheran Worship: History and Practice. Fred L. Precht, editor. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.
Reverend Ken Collins, "What's the Reason for Ashes on Ash Wednesday?"
Alan K. Waltz (1991). A Dictionary for United Methodists. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.