St Augustine's College Kyabram

Strength and Kindliness

Ash Wednesday

Wednesday 6th March was Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent for Western Christian churches. It is a day of penitence to clean the soul before the Lent fast.

Roman Catholic, Anglican, and some other churches hold special liturgies at which worshippers are marked with ashes as a symbol of death, and sorrow for sin.

The liturgy draws on the ancient Biblical traditions of covering one's head with ashes, wearing sackcloth, and fasting.

 

The mark of ashes

In Ash Wednesday liturgies, participants are marked on the forehead with a cross of ashes as a sign of penitence and mortality.

The use of ashes, made by burning palm crosses from the previous Palm Sunday, is very symbolic.

The priest marks each participant on the forehead, and says Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel.

 

Keeping the mark

After some liturgies the participants leave with the mark still on their forehead so that they carry the sign of the cross out into the world.

At other churches the liturgy ends with the ashes being washed off as a sign that the participants have been cleansed of their sins.

 

Symbolism of the ashes

The marking of their forehead with a cross made of ashes reminds each participant that:

  • Death comes to everyone
  • They should be sad for their sins
  • They must change themselves for the better
  • God made the first human being by breathing life into dust, and without God, human beings are nothing more than dust and ashes

The shape of the mark and the words used are symbolic in other ways:

  • The cross is a reminder of the mark of the cross made at baptism
  • The phrase often used when the ashes are administered reminds Christians of the doctrine of original sin
  • The cross of ashes may symbolise the way Christ's sacrifice on the cross as atonement for sin replaces the Old Testament tradition of making burnt offerings to atone for sin

Where the ashes come from

The ashes used on Ash Wednesday are made by burning the palm crosses that were blessed on the previous Palm Sunday.

The use of anointing oil also reminds the churchgoer of God's blessings and of the anointing that took place at their baptism.

 

By using the ashes to mark the cross on the believer's forehead, it symbolises that through Christ's death and resurrection, all Christians can be free from sin.

 

Ash Wednesday Prayer

“God our Father, you create us from the dust of the earth.

Grant that these ashes may be for us a sign of our penitence, and a symbol of our mortality.”

 

Kirrilee Westblade

Deputy Principal Catholic Identity

Have you read this Season's edition of Australian Catholics?  

https://www.australiancatholics.com.au/current/aust-catholic-magazine

 

Have your read the current edition of Diocesan newspaper Sandpiper?

https://www.sandhurst.catholic.org.au/sandpiper/latest/

Will Your Easter Eggs Be Slavery-free?

Weekend Masses March 10 & 11

Pope Francis said that “every person ought to have the awareness that purchasing is always a moral – and not simply an economic – act.”

 

Are you buying and eating, or giving away Easter chocolate this year? It is estimated that up to 30 million people are trapped in slavery globally. The United Nations estimates that one in every three victims of human trafficking is a child.

Much of the chocolate we consume in Australia is made with cocoa beans picked by children, many of whom have been enslaved. These children don’t even know what the cocoa beans are used for and they won’t ever get to taste chocolate.

 

ACTION: Go the ACRATH website: https://acrath.org.au/slaveryfree-easter to find out more. Spread the word about slavery-free Easter chocolate and enjoy chocolate that carries any of the following symbols on the wrapper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://acrath.org.au/slaveryfree-easter for information and resources.