A quick tour around the blog ring indicates to me three things: a number of our regular bloggers are attending the Big Event 4 with Carol Howard Merritt and the rest of us are preparing for Ash Wednesday and Lent. In the Episcopal Church, of which I am a member and a priest, we take Ash Wednesday seriously. The day before, Shrove Tuesday, is spent burning the palm fronds from last year's Palm Sunday. After burning them they are shifted and refined. Some of us add a drop of chrism oil to the ashes, given them more substance so they are more likely to adhere to a forehead and less likely to crumble and fall into eyes or onto clothing. Ash Wednesday services take many forms, including in the Diocese of Chicago, a liturgy for offering "Ashes to Go", resources can be found here.
Does your tradition "celebrate" Ash Wednesday? And, if so, how? Share with us, in the comments or a link to your blog, any resources you have for Ash Wednesday and Lent.
Or share with us any thoughts or ideas you'd like to see developed for Ash Wednesday and Lent.
Terri, I'm working on the last details of a joint Ash Wednesday service with another Presbyterian Church. It begins with a simple, shared meal and concludes with the service of imposing ashes. I love the Ashes to Go concept and the liturgy with it. Thank you so much for sharing this!!
ReplyDeleteJust a funny little AW story: Last year I took ashes to a woman in a nursing home. I didn't have a container for them, so I used a little paper cup folded over on top to prevent spilling. When I got there, I put the cup on her bedside table, chatted for a bit, then began the AW liturgy. When I got to the ashes part and turned to get the cup, it wasn't there. Trying to cover, I added an impromptu homily as I scanned for the ashes...nowhere. I finally realized that an aide had been in the room, must've thought the cup was trash, and thrown it away :-o The service was very important to this woman, but she was no longer fully alert and certainly wasn't going to be looking in a mirror, so I didn't say anything about the lack of ashes, made the cross on her forehead with the words of imposition, and figured intent would rule over form! Sometimes you have to punt...
ReplyDeleteHere's the article I wrote for our March newsletter about Ash Wednesday. It has been received well, and I am actually going to turn it into my sermon/homily for the Ash Wednesday service somehow. It may be repetitive for some who read it, but after I wrote it I decided that's where I really wanted to use it, but I still needed something for the newsletter!
ReplyDeleteUsually, it's been a simple service. We have a soup supper, followed by a very simple worship service with imposition of ashes and holy communion.
ReplyDeleteWhen I served another Presbyterian church they had a joint service with the Methodist church and we didn't have communion. I always felt that was missing.
Here is one more resource - it's an ecumenical version of daily devotions for Lent created by people who are involved in the NCC WordsMatter Expansive Language Project. When click on the link scroll down to the "Download Lenten Devotional"....or fill out the info if you wish.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for your offerings!
ReplyDeleteAnother piece to this.
ReplyDeleteI do "Ash Tuesday" (because we have chapel on Tues & Thurs) with the K-6 students in our school chapel. We start the service with lots of alleluias, then put those away for Lent in some visible manner that usually involves a large box. The week before, I give each teacher a small brown bag and squares of paper; I ask the students to write or draw something for which they are sorry and put them in their class bag, unseen by anyone else but God. On Ash Tuesday, after putting away the alleluias, we process outside, I collect the bags, we burn them in a hibachi (a moment fraught with some peril, but I haven't started a fire yet and I always have an extinguisher nearby), and then I use some of those ashes to make a smudge on the back of each student's hand as they leave, if they want. It is a big tradition and the kids and teachers all really like it.
As a Mennonite (who grew up Baptist), the whole Ash Wednesday thing is pretty new to me. (I tried to actually burn the old palm leaves one year and it didn't work out very well.) I had never considered communion as part of the service--I might try that next year. I just finished this year's liturgy yesterday and posted it on my blog. (I don't remember how to insert links, but clicking on my name should take you to it.)
ReplyDeleteand I always add a little chrism -- our climate is so DRY and the static electricity is all pervasive, so if my ashes weren't in slurry form, they would ALL go into the penitents' eyes. All. Trust me on this!
ReplyDelete