Q: What’s your opinion on abortion?
A: Abortion is inherently evil, since it extends rights that do not genuinely exist to some, while denying the most basic human right of life to others … about half of whom are women, themselves.
Empowering women to slaughter innocents at will is no way to improve society, or to advance the cause of women’s rights … unless perhaps, you’re Atilla the Hun.
No. Wait …
Even Attila the Hun didn’t sanction abortion … nor does Osama Bin Laden, for that matter.
Q: Can you imagine God sitting on his throne in Heaven saying this?
“As the all-powerful, all-knowing creator of the universe, I shall write a book for my creation, and I shall call it The Bible. Let’s see, what shall I put in it??? Well, I want to be SURE to write about my absolute endorsement of slavery in both the Old and the New Testaments — slavery is very important to me and I want people buying and selling slaves for thousands of years. And I want to be CERTAIN that the book shows how much I hate women in both the Old and the New Testaments. And I can NOT forget the parts about animal and human sacrifice, because sacrifices are an essential element of every proper religion. I want people slaughtering animals, splattering their blood and then burning the carcasses on a stone altar because the aroma is pleasing to me. And I want to make human sacrifice the centerpiece of my worship. And I CERTAINLY need to include the juicy parts about child massacre in both the Old and the New Testaments. Baby killing is something that I will emphasize throughout this book because it is very important to me.”
A: Due to Adam’s sin, all of mankind was eternally enslaved to Satan, sin, and death.
God took on human flesh specifically to save us from that decrepit state.
And since Jesus’ kingdom was not of this world, it would be left up to the Church to eventually bring an end to human-on-human slavery.
The accounts in the Bible accurately reflect the people and the events of the various times in which it was written.
And for your information, God created the Blessed Virgin Mary … a woman … to be the “portal” between Heaven and Earth … who would bring salvation (Jesus) into the world. Mary remains eternally blessed, God’s number one success story, and the grace-empowered role model for every human who ever lived, or ever will live.
Not bad for a God who, according to you, hates women.
Until the protestant reformation, and for a number of very good reasons … nobody … not even Jesus Christ … ever dreamed of using the Bible as the sole authority for the Christian faith.
Jesus founded the Church … not the Bible … to lead all men to salvation in his grace, and the Bible constitutes only a portion of the Church’s sacred deposit of faith.
As for all the other stuff you wrote … you’re either being dishonest or you’re simply ignorant … because you’re certainly not funny.
Q: How did the “Assumption of Mary into Heaven theory” come about?
A: It’s more than a theory. It’s an official dogma of the Catholic Church, and one of only two Ex Cathedra, infallible statements ever proclaimed by the Pope, throughout the history of the Church.
It is known from scripture that Satan spared no effort trying to locate and claim the dead body of Moses, as some sort of a “trophy” … finally being frustrated by the concerted efforts and strong rebuke of Michael the Archangel.
Knowing this, if you were Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, triumphantly returned to Heaven after your successfully completed mission, but knowing full well that Satan, while officially powerless, still remained a dangerous fugitive back on earth, how long would you permit Satan to have his way with your own mother?
Then there’s the traditional explanation:
A number of the apostles witnessed Mary’s apparent death. Her body was placed in a tomb, and several days later, the tomb was found to be empty, her body seemingly replaced by a huge volume of flowers.
Some time later, St. John received the Book of Revelation from Jesus Christ, and John correlated the images and events in the last part of chapter 11 and the first part of chapter 12 with the events surrounding the “dormition” of the Blessed Virgin.
Based on this, the Catholic Church has always understood that God would not allow the sanctified flesh that was used to fashion Christ’s human body to see the corruption of the tomb. And since Mary, by special privilege of God, was necessarily sinless from conception, and further sanctified by some 34 years of dwelling in the immediate presence of Christ himself, there was absolutely no need for Mary to await the resurrection, since according to God’s grace, Mary had absolutely no sin that would warrant divine judgment … or death … for that matter.
The Church authoritatively and dogmatically explains all of this here, much better than I have, complete with extensive citations:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_x…
But this short excerpt from the above document sums things up pretty well:
40. Hence the revered Mother of God, from all eternity joined in a hidden way with Jesus Christ in one and the same decree of predestination,(47) immaculate in her conception, a most perfect virgin in her divine motherhood, the noble associate of the divine Redeemer who has won a complete triumph over sin and its consequences, finally obtained, as the supreme culmination of her privileges, that she should be preserved free from the corruption of the tomb and that, like her own Son, having overcome death, she might be taken up body and soul to the glory of heaven where, as Queen, she sits in splendor at the right hand of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages.(48)
And as St. John explains at the end of his gospel, there was indeed a whole lot of very significant, authentic stuff going on, that never made it into the Bible.
Believe it … or don’t. (Catholics are required to believe it.)
Q: What to give up for Lent?
A: There’s no specific requirement, but might I suggest giving up lunch?
Instead of eating lunch, you fast.
You take the money you would have spent on lunch, and you donate it to the poor. That’s alms giving.
And since you’re not eating during lunch, you use the time to talk to God. That’s prayer.
Fasting. Alms giving. Prayer.
That about covers it! (And it works for me)
Q: What Do Palm Ashes Have In Common With Holy Water?
A: When you burn palm leaves you get common, black carbon. When you burn hydrogen, you get clear water.
Both are types of ash.
Q: Is Jesus the Son of God, or God himself?
Can the Son do anything contrary to the Father’s will?
A: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three distinct, divine persons who together, constitute the one, true God. They are all of the same eternal, uncreated godly “stuff”.
And since, by their divine nature, the three are also “connected” to each other in a mysterious but infinitely loving way, they always act together, in perfect unity and accord.
So no … Jesus could not do anything that was contrary to the will of his Father, because such a thing would be contrary to his own divine nature.
Q: Why is the President punishing rich people for getting a great education and working hard?
A: He’s just following his own Marxist/Leninist/Socialist principles.
The man’s very own definition of sin is doing something that goes against HIS principles.
You wouldn’t want “the messiah” to commit a sin, would you?
“Observing these consequences I can truthfully say that I regret having made such remarks, and that if I had known beforehand the full harm and hurt to which they would give rise, especially to the Church, but also to survivors and relatives of victims of injustice under the Third Reich, I would not have made them.”
Read the whole story courtesy of Zenit News Sevice
Q: Would it be wrong for us to make an Image of God?
A: The matter was a controversial one in the early Church.
The concern was the original prohibition against idol worship contained in the 1st and 2nd commandment, as well as certain localized cultural differences.
After much debate, the Church authoritatively decided that since God chose to real himself in and through the flesh of his divine son Jesus, which was and is the image of a Heavenly thing, and since there was no longer any doubt or confusion about the incarnation of Jesus Christ as both fully God and fully man, and since the old law in its’ entirety was perfectly fulfilled and set aside by Jesus Christ in favor of the authority of the New Covenant, universal Church, that there was no longer any reason to prohibit Church approved types of sacred art and statuary.
To sum it up: Ever since God revealed himself to mankind through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, everyone knows who God is and what what God (Jesus) looks like, and only an idiot would choose to worship a picture, or a lump of wood, clay, or marble, instead.
John 14:7 If you had known me, you would without doubt have known my Father also: and from henceforth you shall know him. And you have seen him.
John 14:8 Philip saith to him: Lord, show us the Father; and it is enough for us.
John 14:9 Jesus saith to him: Have I been so long a time with you and have you not known me? Philip, he that seeth me seeth the Father also. How sayest thou: Show us the Father?
By the end of the 8th century this became widely understood and accepted, and the controversy was essentially over … except for some misguided souls today, who think they know better.
More details here:
Says Pope Worked to Save Lives Before, During, After War
NEW YORK, FEB. 20, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Recently uncovered documents show gestures of friendship and protection that Pius XII showed to Jews before, during and after World War II.
The Pave the Way Foundation, which works to promote dialogue between religions, publicized this Thursday.
The discoveries were made by the German historian and advisor of the foundation Michael Hesemann, author of the books “The Pope Who Defied Hitler” and “The Truth About Pius XII.” Hesemann found a number of documents in the Vatican Secret Archives that certified Pope Pacelli’s numerous interventions in favor of Jews.
He noted that Archbishop Pacelli intervened in 1917 while papal nuncio in Bavaria, going through the German government to demand that Palestine Jews be protected from the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
Hesemann also shows that in 1917, the future Pius XII used his personal influence to enable the World Zionist Organization representative, Nachum Sokolov, to meet personally with Benedict XV to talk about a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
In 1926, Archbishop Pacelli urged German Catholics to support the Committee for Palestine, which supported Jewish settlements in the Holy Land.
The foundation’s president, Gary Krupp, added these findings to the evidence he already had complied for a Pius XII symposium last September in Rome. Since this event, 300 new pages of original documents have been uncovered.
These documents, available for downloading from the foundation’s Web site, include a nun’s manuscript from 1943, detailing the Pope’s order to hide Jews in Rome and a list of protected Jews.
Another document is a 1939 report on the “new Pope” by the U.S. Foreign Service, from the American consul in Cologne. The diplomat reported surprise at the “extreme dislike” of Pacelli toward Hitler and the Nazi regime, and his support to the German bishops in their opposition to Nazism, even at the cost of losing German Catholic youth.
The foundation also provides a 1938 document, signed by then Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli, in which he opposes the Polish bill outlawing kosher slaughter because he understood that this law would be a “grave persecution” against the Jewish people.
During the war, Pius XII saved 80,000 lives by persuading the Hungarian regent to prevent the deportation of the Jews. He also requested the Brazilian government to receive 3,000 “non-Aryans.”
Click here for more, courtesy of Zenit News Agency
Submitted by Doria2
“I like clarity, and there’s a reason why,” began the archbishop. “I think modern life, including life in the Church, suffers from a phony unwillingness to offend that poses as prudence and good manners, but too often turns out to be cowardice. Human beings owe each other respect and appropriate courtesy. But we also owe each other the truth — which means candor.” – Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The anti-life forces in the Catholic Church have found one way or another to discount and/or disregard all the authentic Church teachings, regarding abortion and other life issues.
There are a number of excellent magisterial documents and papal encyclicals out there, but they are simply not getting the job done.
The only way I can see to finally eliminate the debate and end the subterfuge is for the Holy Father to make an explicit, dogmatic, Ex Cathedra statement that clearly and infallibly “lays down the law” on the matter, once and for all.
Catholic Canon Law 212 permits the use of thoughtful and respectful petitions, such as this one.
Should the Pope grant our request, such a dogmatic statement would provide a solid base for all pro-life efforts at every level, and perhaps begin to turn the tide against the forces of death in the Church … and in the world.
Click here to read the first one
Click here to read the last one
Exporting abortion and paying for it with U.S. dollars is not only an affront to all Americans, it is a crime against the universal Church, which exists in virtually every country of the world. The Senator remains unrepentant.
Dear Pope Benedict XVI,
In light of the recent widespread confusion regarding the official Catholic Church position on the issues of abortion, stem cell research, cloning, birth control and euthanasia, we respectfully request that you prepare and issue without delay, a dogmatic Ex Cathedra statement clearly defining the beliefs which must be held and affirmed by every Catholic, in regard to these most fundamental human rights issues.
Specifically, we need a precise definition of when life begins and ends, along with an absolutely clear definition of the essential duties of Catholic voters; of bishops, priests, deacons and religious; of politicians, government workers, teachers, lawyers, judges, and police; of scientists, nurses, pharmacists, and physicians; as well as hospitals, universities, seminaries, primary and secondary schools, and other types of Catholic institutions.
Click here to sign the petition
Thank you for your help!
These types of things make one recall the parable of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31) which concludes with Father Abraham observing that if Moses and the prophets aren’t sufficient to turn someone from their evil ways, then it’s not likely they will pay attention to anyone.
“Luke 16:31 And he said to him: If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe, if one rise again from the dead.”
Despite meetings with her own Archbishop Niederauer and Pope Benedict XVI, the Speaker has apparently not budged, with regard to her position on abortion.
Of course, President Obama also recently told the Pope that “We must agree to disagree” on the matter of abortion.
Writing in the Catholic newsweekly Our Sunday Visitor, Valerie Schmalz reports that Pelosi press spokesman Brendan Daly told her, “She [Pelosi] is not changing her position on abortion.” In addition, reported Schmalz, “Daly said Pelosi still goes to Mass and Communion every Sunday at San Francisco’s St. Vincent de Paul parish or elsewhere when she is traveling.”
A little additional advice for Pelosi … not that she’ll pay any attention: For your own spiritual welfare, keep going to Mass, but don’t go up for communion (or attempt to receive ANY of the other sacraments, for that matter) until you’ve had a profound change of mind (and heart) with regard to your decrepit and patently evil position on abortion and other life issues.
Joe Biden and many other anti-life Catholic politicians and judges should also be very concerned for the salvation of their souls … as should anti-life judges and politicians from all denominations, all levels of federal, state, and local government, and from BOTH political parties.
.- Respondents to an online poll which asked them to name their heroes were more likely to name President Barack Obama than Jesus Christ.
The Harris Poll, conducted online among 2,634 U.S. adults between Jan. 12 and Jan. 19, asked respondents to name three people they admire enough to call a hero. Those surveyed gave spontaneous answers and were not shown or read a list of people to choose from.
Respondents most often named Barack Obama, followed by Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.
Mother Teresa was the tenth most often named, while God was the eleventh most.
“The fact that President Obama is mentioned more often than Jesus Christ should not be misinterpreted. No list was used and nobody was asked to choose between them,” Harris Interactive said in a statement.
In a similar poll in July 2001, respondents most often named Jesus Christ as their hero, followed by Martin Luther King, Jr., Colin Powell, John F. Kennedy, and Mother Teresa.
Asked to identify what they believe makes someone a hero, respondents named doing what’s right regardless of personal consequences, not giving up until the goal is accomplished, doing more than what other people expect of them, overcoming adversity and staying level-headed in a crisis.
Q: My faith has grown very weak because of several personal issues, and I need help.
Any suggestions?
A: God loves you. God will provide. Don’t worry.
There are times in everyone’s life when selfish things seem to crowd God out of the picture, and when sin seems to easily overcome.
There’s nothing you can do that God won’t forgive, if you humbly apologize and make a good faith effort at repentance.
Catholics have a number of distinct advantages in that regard, but other Christians need to do it the best way they can.
And no matter how bad things might look, remember that anyone who stands in front of the Judgment seat of Christ with at least a modicum of charity remaining in their soul is not likely to see eternal damnation.
Finally, remain faithfully and charitably involved in all of the work, worship, sacraments, and devotions of the Church, and you’ll never be far from God.
May God bless you and keep you, and grant you grace and peace, forever.
LENTEN JOURNEY WITH BISHOP SARTAIN
Bishop Peter Sartain, Bishop of Joliet, will be offering an “Online
Lenten Retreat” starting Ash Wednesday. The Bishop will be presenting
two short recorded talks each week, along with several scripture
passages for further reflection, which will assist and inspire
parishioners to begin an authentic journey of conversion and a renewed
commitment to prayer, penitence, almsgiving, and self denial.
Click to visit the Diocese of Joliet website
Submitted by Margaret G.
Q: A question for Catholic people?
If you want to learn the truth about Catholicism, I suggest you make good use of all the links on my website:
https://douglawrence.wordpress.com/
As for your mother’s concerns about paganism: Other than the Jews, the entire world was once pagan.
When membership in the Church was eventually extended to non-Jews, pagan converts to Christianity ceased to be pagan at baptism, and became Christ’s instead.
Galatians 3:27 -29 For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek: there is neither bond nor free: there is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ’s, then are you the seed of Abraham, heirs according to the promise.
The myth of paganism in the Catholic Church didn’t even exist until the mid 19th century, when it began to be fostered by rabid anti-Catholic bigots, and was also adopted by a number of fundamentalist Christian groups, including the Ku Klux Klan.
The Catholic faith is ancient and original Christianity, done much the same way the apostles conducted things, truthfully preserving the sacred deposit of faith that was entrusted to them and to the Church by Jesus Christ, but with a universal, world-wide scope, of which the apostles could only dream.
BTW… Baptism with water, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, works the same for Christians of all kinds … one baptism to a customer, for (eternal) life.
Q: What is Ash Wednesday?
A: Ash Wednesday is the day Lent begins. It occurs forty days before Good Friday.
Q: Is Ash Wednesday based on a pagan festival?
A: No. Ash Wednesday originated in the A.D. 900s, long after Europe had been Christianized and the pagan cults stamped out.
Q: Why is it called Ash Wednesday?
A: Actually, Ash Wednesday is its colloquial name. Its official name is the Day of Ashes. It is called Ash “Wednesday” because, being forty days before Good Friday, it always falls on a Wednesday and it is called “Ash” Wednesday because on that day at church the faithful have their foreheads marked with ashes in the shape of a cross.
Q: Why do they have their foreheads marked with a cross?
A: Because in the Bible a mark on the forehead is a symbol of a person’s ownership. By having their foreheads marked with the sign of a cross, this symbolizes that the person belongs to Jesus Christ, who died on a Cross.
This is in imitation of the spiritual mark or seal that is put on a Christian in baptism, when he is delivered from slavery to sin and the devil and made a slave of righteousness and Christ (Rom. 6:3-18).
It is also in imitation of the way the righteousness are described in the book of Revelation, where we read of the servants of God (the Christian faithful, as symbolized by the 144,000 male virgins):
“Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads.”(Revelation 7:3)
“[The demon locust] were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green growth or any tree, but only those of mankind who have not the seal of God upon their foreheads”(Revelation 9:4)
“Then I looked, and lo, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.”(Revelation 14:1)
This is in contrast to the followers of the beast, who have the number 666 on their foreheads or hands.
The reference to the sealing of the servants of God for their protection in Revelation is an allusion to a parallel passage in Ezekiel, where Ezekiel also sees a sealing of the servants of God for their protection:
“And the LORD said to him [one of the four cherubim], ‘Go through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark [literally,”a <tav”>] upon the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.’ And to the others he said in my hearing, ‘Pass through the city after him, and smite; your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity; slay old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one upon whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.’ So they began with the elders who were before the house.”(Ezekiel 9:4-6)
Unfortunately, like most modern translations, the one quoted above (the Revised Standard Version, which we have been quoting thus far), is not sufficiently literal. What it actually says is to place a <tav> on the foreheads of the righteous inhabitants of Jerusalem. <Tav> is one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and in ancient script it looked like the Greek letter <chi>, which happens to be two <crossed> lines (like an “x”) and which happens to be the first letter in the word “Christ” in Greek <(christos).> The Jewish rabbis commented on the connection between <tav> and <chi> and this is undoubtedly the mark Revelation has in mind when the servants of God are sealed in it.
The early Church Fathers seized on this <tav-chi->cross-<christos> connection and expounded it in their homilies, seeing in Ezekiel a prophetic foreshadowing of the sealing of Christians as servants of Christ. It is also part of the background to the Catholic practice of making the sign of the cross, which in the early centuries (as can be documented from the second century on) was practiced by using one’s thumb to furrow one’s brow with a small sign of the cross, like Catholic do today at the reading of the Gospel during Mass.
Q: Why is the signing done with ashes?
A: Because ashes are a biblical symbol of mourning and penance. In Bible times the custom was to fast, wear sackcloth, sit in dust and ashes, and put dust and ashes on one’s head. While we no longer normally wear sackcloth or sit in dust and ashes, the customs of fasting and putting ashes on one’s forehead as a sign of mourning and penance have survived to this day. These are two of the key distinctives of Lent. In fact, Ash Wednesday is a day not only for putting ashes on one’s head, but also a day of fasting (see below).
Q: What are some biblical examples of people putting dust and ashes on their foreheads?
A: Consider the following verses from the New International Version:
“That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh, his clothes torn and dust on his head.”(1 Samuel 4:12)
“On the third day a man arrived from Saul’s camp, with his clothes torn and with dust on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him honor.”(2 Samuel 1:20)
“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.”(2 Samuel 13:19)
“When David arrived at the summit, where people used to worship God, Hushai the Arkite was there to meet him, his robe torn and dust on his head.”(2 Samuel 15:32)
Q: Is there another significance to the ashes?
A: Yes. They also symbolize death and so remind us of our mortality. Thus when the priest uses his thumb to sign one of the faithful with the ashes, he says, “Remember, man, that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return, “which is modeled after God’s address to Adam (Genesis 3:19; cf. Job 34:15, Psalms 90:3, 104:29, Ecclesiastes 3:20). This also echoes the words at a burial, “Ashes to ashes; dust to dust, “which is based on God’s words to Adam in Genesis 3 and Abraham’s confession, “I am nothing but dust and ashes”(Genesis 18:27). It is thus a reminder of our mortality and our need to repent before this life is over and we face our Judge.
Q: Where do the ashes used on Ash Wednesday come from?
A: They are made by burning palm fronds which have been saved from the previous year’s Palm Sunday, they are then blessed by a priest—blessed ashes having been used in God’s rituals since the time of Moses (Numbers 19:9-10, 17).
Q: Why are ashes from the previous year’s Palm Sunday used?
A: Because Palm Sunday was when the people rejoiced at Jesus’ triumphal entrance to Jerusalem. They celebrated his arrival by waving palm fronds, little realizing that he was coming to die for their sins. By using palms from Palm Sunday, it is a reminder that we must not only rejoice of Jesus’ coming but also regret the fact that our sins made it necessary for him to die for us in order to save us from hell.
Q: Is having one’s forehead signed with ashes required of the faithful?
A: No, it is not required. However, it is to be strongly encouraged as it is a fitting and visible spiritual reminder that encourages one to adopt an attitude of prayer, repentance, and humility. As James said: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up”(James 4:10).
Q: Is Ash Wednesday a holy day of obligation, that is, a day on which we are required to go to Mass?
A: No, it is not a holy day of obligation. However, it is strongly advisable since it is fitting to mark the beginning of penitential season of Lent by going to Mass. The formal, corporate worship of God is a good way to get a good start to the season. Also, even though it is not a holy day of obligation, it is a day of fast and abstinence.
Click here to visit Jimmy Akin’s website
Submitted by Doria2
By Father Sanders
The liturgical use of ashes originates in the Old Testament times. Ashes symbolized mourning, mortality and penance. For instance, in the Book of Esther, Mordecai put on sackcloth and ashes when he heard of the decree of King Ahasuerus (or Xerxes, 485-464 B.C.) of Persia to kill all of the Jewish people in the Persian Empire (Esther 4:1). Job (whose story was written between the seventh and fifth centuries BC) repented in sackcloth and ashes (Job 42:6). Prophesying the Babylonian captivity of Jerusalem, Daniel (c. 550 B.C.) wrote, “I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes” (Daniel 9:3).
In the fifth century B.C., after Jonah’s preaching of conversion and repentance, the town of Ninevah proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, and the king covered himself with sackcloth and sat in the ashes (Jonah 3:5-6). These Old Testament examples evidence both a recognized practice of using ashes and a common understanding of their symbolism.
Jesus Himself also made reference to ashes: Referring to towns that refused to repent of sin although they had witnessed the miracles and heard the good news, our Lord said, “If the miracles worked in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have reformed in sackcloth and ashes long ago” (Matthew 11:21).
The early Church continued the usage of ashes for the same symbolic reasons. In his book, “De Poenitentia,” Tertullian (c. 160-220) prescribed that the penitent must “live without joy in the roughness of sackcloth and the squalor of ashes.” Eusebius (260-340), the famous early Church historian, recounted in his “The History of the Church” how an apostate named Natalis came to Pope Zephyrinus clothed in sackcloth and ashes begging forgiveness. Also during this time, for those who were required to do public penance, the priest sprinkled ashes on the head of the person leaving confession.
In the Middle Ages (at least by the time of the eighth century), those who were about to die were laid on the ground on top of sackcloth sprinkled with ashes. The priest would bless the dying person with holy water, saying, “Remember that thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return.”
After the sprinkling, the priest asked, “Art thou content with sackcloth and ashes in testimony of thy penance before the Lord in the day of judgment?” To which the dying person replied, “I am content.” In all of these examples, the symbolism of mourning, mortality, and penance is clear.
Eventually, the use of ashes was adapted to mark the beginning of Lent, the 40 day preparation period (not including Sundays) for Easter. The ritual for the “Day of Ashes” is found in the earliest editions of the Gregorian Sacramentary, which dates at least to the eighth century.
About the year 1000, an Anglo-Saxon priest named Aelfric preached, “We read in the books both in the Old Law and in 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.”
As an aside, Aelfric reinforced his point by then telling of a man who refused to go to Church on Ash Wednesday and receive ashes; the man was killed a few days later in a boar hunt. Since this time, the Church has used ashes to mark the beginning of the penitential season of Lent, when we remember our mortality and mourn for our sins.
In our present liturgy for Ash Wednesday, we use ashes made from the burned palm branches distributed on the Palm Sunday of the previous year. The priest blesses the ashes and imposes them on the foreheads of the faithful, making the sign of the cross and saying, “Remember, man you are dust and to dust you shall return,” or “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.” As we begin this holy season of Lent in preparation for Easter, we must remember the significance of the ashes we have received: We mourn and do penance for our sins. We again convert our hearts to the Lord, who suffered, died, and rose for our salvation. We renew the promises made at our baptism, when we died to an old life and rose to a new life with Christ Finally, mindful that the kingdom of this world passes away, we strive to live the kingdom of God now and look forward to its fulfillment in heaven.
Fr. Saunders is president of the Notre Dame Institute for Catechetics and associate pastor of Queen of Apostles Parish, both in Alexandria.
Submitted by Doria2
Doug Lawrence's Catholic Site 