Ash Wednesday invites us into almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, the three traditional Lenten practices that can draw us into a deeper relationship with the Lord. As we know, it remains a very popular day of devotion among Catholics, even in these days of the pandemic. We do not want to let the virus get in the way of this important day.
Even in ordinary times, the official Liturgy of the Church allows for the distribution of ashes to take place outside of Mass, so we have sought a creative way to allow all of us to receive the ashes, a sign of our repentance.
We will celebrate the blessing of the ashes on Ash Wednesday at the lone, livestreamed Mass at 9am. Then, if an individual or a household (or teachers and aides at our school) would like to celebrate “the ritual of the distribution,” you may obtain a small pouch of the blessed ashes. We will provide a prayer card to distribute the ashes in your home or at school. Normally the actual distribution of ashes is limited to Ash Wednesday itself, but our extraordinary circumstances this year may make this difficult. You are therefore welcome to do the ceremony any time in the month of February following Ash Wednesday, as close as possible to the actual day so as to preserve its meaning.
Pastoral Note: Once the ritual is completed, the remaining ashes should not be thrown out. After all, they will have been blessed by God. The best way to treat them is to bury them in the ground in a respectful manner. May all of our homes and our school be blessed during the coming Lenten journey!
