Ash Wednesday: What did your priest say when making the sign of the cross with ashes?

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Larry1700 said:
What did your priest say when making the sign of the cross with ashes?

Mine said “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” He also said the same thing as his homily–nothing else.

FYI, I was visiting another church in Waco. It wasn’t my own church.
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I have poor hearing so didn’t really hear and concentrating on it all as such to know what He actually said. Why
 
centurionguard said:
In what I have observed over the years whether a priest chooses to use either Blessing form when distributing Ashes largely differs whether the priest is older or younger: In other words what year the priest came out of the seminary and also what seminary the priest came out of.
Remember Man-Woman That Thou Art Dust and Unto Dust Thou Shall Return or the more mainstream version Repent and Believe In The Gospel. . IMHO today’s mainstream usage of Repent and Believe In The Gospel is largely more popular due to adopted Inclusive Language mixed with Political Correctness. Staying away from gender pronouns is more commonplace today. Remember Man/Woman You Are Dust seems derogatory if not offensive to some women in the Church when they hear themselves addressed as Woman, as in Remember Woman you are Dust.

Many women in the Church too are not offended and don’t give it a second thought.
Some prayers in the Church initiated by the priest traditionally began with Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Today I often hear priests say Sisters and Brothers in Christ.

It really doesn’t bother or fizzle me, but the question remains why the change in tradition?

Peace
Chris
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Women being offended by being called women…🤷
 
anp1215 said:
Women being offended by being called women…🤷
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Ah! but why the shrug of surprise?

You wouldn’t see “gender-neutral Inclusive-Language” NRSV Liturgical Text used in some circles of the Church as well as NRSV Inclusive Language Catholic Bibles in existence today if some woman weren’t offended, though not all offended.

Personally; I’m at a loss to understand why the Catholic Bishop Conferences in both United States and Canada haven’t put a halt on Inclusive Language Liturgical and Biblical text.
Far worse in Canada than the U.S.
 
centurionguard said:
Ah! but why the shrug of surprise?

You wouldn’t see “gender-neutral Inclusive-Language” NRSV Liturgical Text used in some circles of the Church as well as NRSV Inclusive Language Catholic Bibles in existence today if some woman weren’t offended, though not all offended.

Personally; I’m at a loss to understand why the Catholic Bishop Conferences in both United States and Canada haven’t put a halt on Inclusive Language Liturgical and Biblical text.
Far worse in Canada than the U.S.
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Not a shrug of surprise, just a shrug of “what nonsense” 🙂
 
centurionguard said:
Remember Man-Woman That Thou Art Dust and Unto Dust Thou Shall Return or the more mainstream version Repent and Believe In The Gospel. . IMHO today’s mainstream usage of Repent and Believe In The Gospel is largely more popular due to adopted Inclusive Language mixed with Political Correctness. Staying away from gender pronouns is more commonplace today. Remember Man/Woman You Are Dust seems derogatory if not offensive to some women in the Church when they hear themselves addressed as Woman, as in Remember Woman you are Dust.
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“Remember, woman” has never been an acceptable form of the Ash Wednesday admonition. Maybe people are just offended at hearing a liturgical abuse.
 
MarkThompson said:
“Remember, woman” has never been an acceptable form of the Ash Wednesday admonition. Maybe people are just offended at hearing a liturgical abuse.
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Hello Mark;

How would you expect a priest to address a woman coming up to receive ashes?

Remember (Man) that thou art dust and to dust thou shall return? :confused:
And where do you find a priest addressing a woman as a woman on Ash Wednesday not an acceptable form? Do you have something liturgical in form to back your statement saying that its unacceptable?
Where’s the wrong in it? I’ve been in the Church over 50 years and for as long as I can remember its always been a norm.

Peace
Chris
 
The Priest who places ashes on your forehead may choose one of two formulas:“Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel” or ** “Remember, man (woman), you are dust and to dust you will return.”** The first formula, “Turn away from sin…,” calls for repentance and fits the historical beginning of the use of ashes in the liturgy. In fourth century church documents we find the first use of ashes to distinguish those who were in the Order of Penitents. This group had committed serious sins like murder or renunciation of the faith in the face of persecution. Their journey of reconciliation with the Christian community could take years, not a mere 40 days. But it began with the first step, acceptance into the Order of Penitents. On Ash Wednesday, the penitents declared their offense out loud before the whole assembly, asked forgiveness, put on special penitential garments (sack cloth) and received ashes which were poured, not smudged, on their heads.

By the end of the first millennium the institution of public penitence had all but disappeared. However, the use of ashes at the beginning of Lent continued and eventually was extended to all the faithful. A prayer of blessing for the ashes was added, as well as two prayers for their administration to the faithful.

While the first prayer calls for repentance, the second, (“Remember, man (woman), you are dust…,” calls for remembering our mortality and fits well with preparation for Easter through the 40 days of Lent.)

The “dust formula” affirms that the human person is genuinely an earth creature subject to all the realities and limitations of matter. This mass of dust is no self-starter. By itself it is as lifeless as the moon. The human person depends from conception to death on God’s gift of life. As a Dominican priest, Father Jude Siciliano OP, puts it, “…we are a daily creature of God’s daily care, endlessly being formed and being continually breathed into. … Our lives are continually surrounded by the loving kindness of God, who wills for us more good than we can will for ourselves.”

In the “dust formula” we are invited to remember what God remembers in Psalm 103:

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him,

For he knows how we are formed; he remembers that we are dust.

Man’s days are like those of grass; like a flower of the field he blooms;

The wind sweeps over him and he is gone, and his place knows him no more.

But the kindness of the Lord is from eternity to eternity toward those who fear him (Psalm 103 verses 14-17).

Lent is a time of remembering what God remembers. He notes our sins and removes them from being a danger and threat. For God knows that we are dust and that we are going to die, and this evokes in God concern and love. What matters is God’s gracious act of removal. But we, too, have to remember them and ask his mercy.

If we remember God’s mercy and trust his forgiveness, we acknowledge our humanity, our origin from dust, and long for our ultimate Easter hope – the resurrection!
 
I’ve actually seen both formulas. When I was growing up in Buffalo, it was “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, unto dust you shall return.” Here it is “repent and believe in the Gospel.”
 
My pastor used “Repent and believe in the Gospel”. Mark 1:14
 
take note too that the word (Holy) Gospel is omitted
. IMHO today’s mainstream usage of Repent and Believe In The Gospel is largely more popular due to adopted Inclusive Language mixed with Political Correctness.
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(Holy) was never omitted. “Repent and believe in the Gospel” is straight out of the Douay Rheims Bible, RSV, and the NAB. It is Jesus’ own words.

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry. 14h After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: 15i “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”* Mark 1:15
 
Cathryn said:
My pastor used “Repent and believe in the Gospel”. Mark 1:14
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Perhaps its just a quibble of words in short form but the two formulas given to priest to folow are: “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel” or “Remember, man (woman), you are dust and to dust you will return.” However; (“Turn Away From Sin”) is the same as saying Repent in today’s lingo.
 
centurionguard said:
Perhaps its just a quibble of words in short form but the two formulas given to priest to folow are: “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel” or “Remember, man (woman), you are dust and to dust you will return.” However; (“Turn Away From Sin”) is the same as saying Repent in today’s lingo.
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Priests don’t have the option of saying " Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel." That is the old Sacramentary. The English translation of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal provides two options for ministers to say during the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday: “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (or) “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

These phrases follow a more literal translation of the Latin, and differ slightly from the options in the former Sacramentary: “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel .” (or) "Remember, man, you are
dust and to dust you will return.”
 
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