Ash Wednesday Liturgy

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I attended Mass today and instead of ashes being distributed after the homily, they were given out after Mass. This is how it is done each year at our parish. Is this incorrect? Also does it bother anybody else that the church is always more packed on Ash Wednesday than any other day of the year (including Easter). It saddens me so much that people seem only to care about getting ashes 🤷 For example, a woman and two men came into the church while the priest was giving the Eucharist to the EMHCs right before Communion. They walked right up to the front of the altar as he was doing this and stood there waiting for ashes :eek: Then the same woman walked into the communion line and it was clear she had no idea what was going on 😦 I wish every Sunday Mass was as well attended as today’s.
 
I am so annoyed over the way our service went tonight. We have 4 services, 3 masses and 1 prayer service, and I left disgusted at my fellow parishioners.

I attended the prayer service at 5pm, not expecting it to be crowded since most people would have been at work or in traffice, but there were 150-200 people there. The Deacon officated since it was just a prayer service. Well apparently since he isn’t a Priest noone felt the need to show him any respect.

It was like these people had never been to church before. They didn’t know when to stand, when to sit. NO ONE sang…It was awkward singing alone with just the cantor as the only other voice I could hear. I mean really, it isn’t hard, if he stands up, so do you. If he sits down, so do you. Really, a handful of us would be standing and the Deacon would have to stop in the middle of what he was saying to say “Please rise”

He did a great homily about the condradiction of receiving ashes and how visible a sign of our faith that is, and the Gospel that preaches: Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven and that if you came just for ashes then you are here for the wrong reasons. Apparently, no one was listening since half the people left while the Deacon was washing his hands after giving ashes. I mean really…there is only like 5min left. Final blessing and closing hymn. You couldn’t hang around. The whole service was less then 30min.
 
I wasn’t sure if the over emphasis placed on Ash Wednesday was just a Mexican thing. Many attend Ash Wednesday services out of tradition instead of really knowing what it means. It is also the only time many will go to Mass all year. It seems they think they are getting special powers from these ashes.
 
During Mass today, our priest mentioned that some priests give the ashes after Communion so that droves of congregants don’t run for the door halfway through. Unfortunately, that’s how our much of our society has become in recent years.
 
Our Church was PACKED. After the Homily, we received the ashes and then we celebrated the Eucharist.
 
Our parish had a Mass at 5:15 which was pretty packed by 5:45. A very nice Mass other than the fact that people who came for the 7:00 Mass came in and were walking up and down the aisles talking to each other as if there wasn’t a Mass going on. It was unbelievable! Others just milled around in the aisles and in the back. I thought it was very inconsiderate of the people who were still at Mass.

Another young man about 25 years old brought his Starbucks coffee in with him. He drank it all through Father’s homily like he was at the movies - and yes he took Communion.

Nonetheless, it was a great Mass for me and a wonderful beginning to Lent 🙂
 
bkayw said:
Our Church was PACKED. After the Homily, we received the ashes and then we celebrated the Eucharist.
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Same here 🙂 I attended on the mass at noon but we were driving by the church during the mass at 6pm and ppl were standing outside it was so crowded.
 
Bearer, yup that makes sense. The congregation walking out the door would probably distract too much from the Eucharist 😦
 
Brooke449 said:
Our parish had a Mass at 5:15 which was pretty packed by 5:45. A very nice Mass other than the fact that people who came for the 7:00 Mass came in and were walking up and down the aisles talking to each other as if there wasn’t a Mass going on. It was unbelievable! Others just milled around in the aisles and in the back. I thought it was very inconsiderate of the people who were still at Mass.

Another young man about 25 years old brought his Starbucks coffee in with him. He drank it all through Father’s homily like he was at the movies - and yes he took Communion.

Nonetheless, it was a great Mass for me and a wonderful beginning to Lent 🙂
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While I do know that this is not the same thing, there is a woman who brings her dog with her to adoration. It is a small dog, but she has several tags on the collar and the constant jingling drives me nuts. She also likes to kneel directly infront of the alter on the steps, and the dog then proceeds to scratch and rub against the alter!! I really wish she would leave the dog home.
 
Wow! I went to another local parish than normal tonight for Ash Wednesday, they had Ash distribution services every half hour all evening. A sheriff deputy was directing traffic. I have heard of this being the most popular day for ‘church’ among the hispanic community, which was what was predomninantly in attendence. There was a lot of chatter, talking on cell phones and just not understand how to be respectful of order. I was amazed. I also prayed that this might move the obvious infrequent attenders of mass to attend on a regular basis and see the personal benefit of placing God in greater importance by demonstrating weekly participation in the celebration of the Eucharist.

I also pray that they understand that the ashes are a sign of our sinfulness and need to repent and not something superstitious.
 
Our 6:00 p.m. Mass was packed to the rafters, and I think the Church seats 5-600 hundred. I saw people I hadn’t seen in 20+ years. I took it as a good sign, people seemed to be gald to be there. We were given our ashes after the final blessing.
 
The 5:30 Mass at the church we were visiting was very well-done, though it had a few different things.
  1. The priests typically chants various parts of the Mass…for that Mass (and I think all during Lent), he simply recited each part.
  2. “Remember, you are dust and to dust you shall return”-been at least a decade since I heard these words being said as I was given the ashes on my forehead.
  3. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a Mass where the Sign of Peace was omitted-though I can certainly understand why he’s doing it (though newly-ordained, he has a traditional edge to him).
  4. “Ashes” was NOT sung. That had been sung at EVERY Ash Wednesday Mass my parents attended since they were married 30 years ago (much less every one I have attended). Perhaps it is a welcome change (I cannot stand “We rise again from ashes to create ourselves anew”, though my parents were partial toward the line “Give our stumblings direction”.)
Overall, very well-done and penitentially-focused.
 
Traditionally the ashes were blessed only before the first Mass of the day, and on that Mass the ashes were distributed immediately after the blessing, before that Mass, In any other Mass the ashes were distributed after the Mass.

The new rite moved the blessing after the Homily without making in clear what to do in the subsequent masses. I suppose in some parishes bless the ashes several times, in others only once.
 
We too have standing room only Masses on Ash Wednesday. This year we had our 1st Ash Wed Service for our Wed afternoon Faith Formation classes. It was very nice. Many kids who would not have been taken to Mass were able to learn more about Lent and think about repentance.
 
dconklin said:
We too have standing room only Masses on Ash Wednesday. This year we had our 1st Ash Wed Service for our Wed afternoon Faith Formation classes. It was very nice. Many kids who would not have been taken to Mass were able to learn more about Lent and think about repentance.
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There were two Masses yesterday at the parish I’m visiting. I don’t know what the 4:30 one was like but the main one at 7 p.m.,with Deacon & choir, was far from standing room only. That surprised me because, as others have said, in my parish even those who never come to Mass on Sunday seem to rouse themselves to get ashes.
 
The parish I went to had 6 Masses yesterday. I went at 11:00 am, and it was pretty full. The deacon gave the homily, and said that today 3,000 people will come to that church for Ash Wednesday. It’s a downtown parish, so that makes sense. The whole Mass was done wonderfully, with ashes distributed after the homily and before Communion. He also made the excellent point that it’s not so much about what you give up for Lent; it’s about how different you are when Easter comes.
 
We had three liturgies. It was full, but not more full than a typical Sunday Mass. A lot of the people there don’t attend our parish regularly, but that’s okay. Hopefully Ash Wednesday calls more to the Church and to conversion.
 
My parish had a 9:00 am and a 7:00 pm Mass. We went to the 7:00 pm Mass and it was standing room only (thankfully we arrive early enough to have a seat). We received ashes after the homily, but I didn’t notice anyone leaving after receiving ashes (we sitting near the door).

We just recently joined this parish and one of the things I have noticed and liked about this parish is that you don’t see people leaving before the priest has finished Mass, it just doesn’t seem to happen here, or at least isn’t the norm. Though I think some of it has to do with the layout of the church, there isn’t really a way to “sneak” out early without going through a pew full of people or down the center aisle.
 
We weren’t crowded at all. We’re only crowded on Christmas Eve and Easter. We did sing Ashes during distribution, but I don’t remember that song from my childhood. People don’t seem to leave Mass early but it is very noisy during the recessional.
 
Mass for us was at 7:00pm and was a bilingual Spanish/English Mass. Absolutely beautiful. I was so excited to actually see a crucifix for once at the center of attention behind the altar 😃 Everyone was very reverent and we were packed YAY! (We have a small parish so it’s exciting to have more than 50 people attend a Mass) I loved how we had both English and Spanish hymns too.
 
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