Ash Wednesday Liturgy

[CHRISTINE77]

I went to the 12:00 service and it wasn’t all that full. Everything was done normally,
ashes after the homily, remember you are dust and to dust you shall return, songs were all about lent and ashes, and a lot of people I usually see at 11:00 am service on Sundays were there, though some probably waited for the 7:00 pm service if they worked. I always take Ash Wednesday off and attend the 12:00 service, because it’s easier for me to fast and reflect when I am not working.

 

[Zsofia_A]

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.

Yay Laszlo you have a hungarian name Just wanted to greet a fellow hungarian if you are one of them

Hugs and God bless you!

 

[The_Curt_Jester]

My church had three Masses on Ash Wednesday. The first two (morning and noon) were not that crowded. There were a good number compared to regular weekdays, but that’s about it. The third one was standing room only, with many people arriving really late and more leaving early. Some people arrived just after Mass to receive ashes. There were even people arriving nearly an hour after to see if they could get them (which they couldn’t).

Somebody needs to get them to go to Mass on Sundays, too!

 

[FaustinaClare]

I am a convert and I don’t understand what is this obsession with ashes? It isn’t a holy day of obligation and yet more people show up for ashes than they do for Holy Days or even Sunday?

Our church is rather large and it had 3 masses. I went to 12:15. It was packed and I noticed the Ash line took a lot longer than the communion line. No big deal though b/c anyone can receive ashes, even children not yet old enough for communion. Our services are always reverent and I love all of our priests.

However, my mother went to a different church than her normal and it was packed. She accidentally went to the Spanish mass instead of the English one. This wouldn’t have been a problem except the people that went were beyond rude. They let their children (and there were many) run up and down the aisles screaming and talking DURING MASS! The people themselves were talking and no one kneeled or stood during the different parts of the Mass. She said everyone just sat in their seats not really paying attention.

I would have been horrified. She said that would be the last time she ever goes there.

 

[CHRISTINE77]

I am a convert and I don’t understand what is this obsession with ashes? It isn’t a holy day of obligation and yet more people show up for ashes than they do for Holy Days or even Sunday?

Our church is rather large and it had 3 masses. I went to 12:15. It was packed and I noticed the Ash line took a lot longer than the communion line. No big deal though b/c anyone can receive ashes, even children not yet old enough for communion. Our services are always reverent and I love all of our priests.

However, my mother went to a different church than her normal and it was packed. She accidentally went to the Spanish mass instead of the English one. This wouldn’t have been a problem except the people that went were beyond rude. They let their children (and there were many) run up and down the aisles screaming and talking DURING MASS! The people themselves were talking and no one kneeled or stood during the different parts of the Mass. She said everyone just sat in their seats not really paying attention.

I would have been horrified. She said that would be the last time she ever goes there.

Wow it really is strange. Like I said, our church was not packed, but it sounds like the majority of the people here say that their churches were packed. I’m really surprised that getting ashes is so popular! I truly wonder why.

 

[MissRose73]

I went to an afternoon Mass at my parents’ church as I had a 1/2 day off work and it was on my way home.

I would say there were about 200 people or so there. It was a Mass, with ashes given out to all people of all ages after the homily.

 

[jtodisco]

I was actually very happy with the way that the priest at my parish handled this phenomenon. He made sure to comment on the large crowd and how it would be nice to see such a large crowd weekly. Then he gave a very thorough homily, which annoyed most of the people only there for ashes. People around me actually complained wanting the priest to “hurry it up”. I’m sure he didn’t just give a long homily to get under these parishioners’ skins (though I must confess that was sort of funny), his homily was very spot on in interpreting the three readings together and trying to instill in the crowd the meaning of Lent. He warned the people that Lent is “not a joke” and that though God understands our failings and will always forgive us that “this doesn’t mean God likes it when we fail or doesn’t mind when we don’t try our hardest”.

Also he stressed that to say one doesn’t have time for God is “the biggest lie there is” because God Himself created time so to say one does not have time to go to Mass each week, or to go to confession regularly, or to pray a little each day is a big lie. How is it that we don’t have time for God Who created time but time for everything else? Lastly, the priest seemed to scare those who were only there to receive ashes by saving them for the very end and saying things prior to giving them out like “I hope no one came here just to get ashes”. One family behind me was grumbling quite loudly that they wanted “their” ashes and were worried that the priest wasn’t going to give ashes this year.

That said, it was a bit of a zoo that day. I had to struggle to hear the priest speak over the talking of others, the ringing cell phones, etc. And I’m a young guy with good hearing and our parish has speakers! I tried very hard to not judge those around me, I was so worried all through Mass that I was acting like a Pharisee, but at the same time I couldn’t get over my outrage at the disrepect shown towards the priest and later when we all received Holy Communion. I couldn’t ignore these people like I would prefer to do because they were so loud and found scattered throughout the church. As much as I would love it if these people would have a change of heart and take Mass and the Holy Eucharist more seriously and attend chuch every Sunday since that doesn’t seem likely I am glad they only show up on “special” days.