Ash Wednesday: will you go about your day WITHOUT washing your forehead?

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I have been going to Mass and receiving both Holy Communion and then ashes for over 50 years now, I never wash them off until right before I go to bed.
I have worn them to school, work, about my day, sometimes I even forget they are there until someone mentions them. Most of the time a few people say…(after looking at me…“Is it Ash Wednesday already”? or "Oh yeah, its Ash Wednesday, I’m glad you reminded me, I’ll have to go to Mass tonight!!
I have had a few people tell me that I had something on my forehead, but they have been few and far between, most people just smile or say something nice.
The one’s I like the best look like a huge Cross, every once in awhile I’ve gotten the ones that looked like a huge black blob and those were probably the times that someone thought I had dirt on my head.
Another thing is that almost always, just about every single year I have heard …“Remember man you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” One year they said…“Repent and believe in the Gospel.” (I thought, hummm, perhaps I need to go to confession again.) 😃
 
I was always taught that once the ashes are on you should leave them on until after sunset, which by tradition is a new day, and thus Ash Wednesday has ended. I always leave mine on but this year, I took some off because the priest really put it on thick, and it was falling in my eyes. I left a good smudge to help me remember all day that “you are but dust and to dust you shall return” and to get the opportunity to explain that to anyone who asks.
 
Last year I was in Atlanta attending a Kingdom Advisors Financial Planners conference. I was one of about five Catholics with a group of about 500 evangelical financial advisors. We definately got some interesting looks throughout the day. I purposely left my ashes on and felt proud doing so. Just prior to attending the conference I emailed Ron Blue, a well-know evangelical figure, and the group’s president and asked him if Kingdom Advisor’s considered Catholics Christian. I never got a response and took it as a no. Needless to say, I did not remain a paying member of the group.
 
I wash them off after Mass to avoid getting them into my eyes. I have ongoing issues with my eyes and it is very painful when stuff accidently gets in my eyes. It was an issue when I wore contacts too.

For some people, it is advisable to wipe them off. But I do think keeping them serves an an important sign of our faith to others, and can serve as a way for the Holy Spirit to turn the thoughts of other folks back to God.

I like receiving the ashes and it is an extremely spiritual experience every year.

Sincerely,

Maria1212
 
There are arguments on both sides of the practice. On the one hand it is a great way of bringing Christ into the world, encouraging other Catholics etc.

On the other, Jesus told us to wash our faces and put out oil on our heads when we fast (in other words not to look or act out of the ordinary). And there is a HUGE temptation to pride in things like wearing ashes - even the poster above said they felt proud.

There is good pride, but there is also bad pride, and one CAN be proud in a bad way about such practices.

For myself - last year I left them on all day at work. This year the day was so hot (still summer here down under) that I got sweaty and without thinking wiped my forehead and removed most of 'em. In any event there was no way, having got 'em at 10.30 am, was I going to go till 6pm without washing my sweaty face. :nope:
 
We walked to mass today because last year we couldn’t find a parking space on Ash Wednesday. So I washed my face when we came home because it was a really humid day today. My older son’s hair brushed his away, and the baby’s ashes were wiped away when I changed his clothes.

I wasn’t even going to attend this year, but I’m glad I changed my mind. It was a special day. I’m glad that so many people do make it in to church at least on this one day. It’s always good to see the pews full.
 
BeeSweet said:
I’m glad that so many people do make it in to church at least on this one day. It’s always good to see the pews full.
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I’m glad they come also. But it’s odd to me. Ash Wednesday isn’t even a day of obligation, yet they come. Why not when they are supposed to come? Like every Sunday and Holy Day? I don’t get it. 🤷
 
yellowbird said:
I’m glad they come also. But it’s odd to me. Ash Wednesday isn’t even a day of obligation, yet they come. Why not when they are supposed to come? Like every Sunday and Holy Day? I don’t get it. 🤷
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As has been said before, it may well be that a very significant number of them are in fact not Catholic. It’s not like EVERY church gives out ashes on Ash Wednesday, and Fr Groschel has certainly mentioned knowing even Jews, much less non-Catholics, who’ve come for the ashes on Ash Wednesday.
 
I left my ashes on my forehead today and someone at work asked me if I had toner on my forehead. Yah - I always change the toner cartridge in the copier with my face…

It was a good opportunity for me to test my own knowledge and faith commitment by sharing with the person who queried me. 🙂
 
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. Roman Catholic churches of the Latin Rite use this service to prepare themselves for the passion and resurrection of Christ through self-examination, repentance, prayer, fasting, and self-denial. Ashes from the burned palms of the preceding year’s Palm Sunday are blessed. With these ashes, the priest marks a cross on the foreheads of those who come forward and kneel, saying, “Remember, man, that dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.” (Genesis 3:19 KJV) From Biblical times, sprinkling oneself with ashes has been a mark of sorrow for sin
 
We hit the 5:30 pm Mass and as I type this they are still on. In years past though, I have been able to get to 7:00 am and have left them on during the day (you put up with the 20 “hey, your forehead is dirty” because you may get 1 "hey, I didn’t know your Catholic too - is it too late for me to go for ashes?)
 
It’s a tightrope: one one side, don’t be ashamed of your faith; to the other, showing off.

I think the best way to do it is get the ashes, and then, as they used to say in the Army, “Carry on as if you were normal.”

When I cross myself when I pass in front of a church in public, should I do so furtively and hope no one sees? Or make a grandiose display of it, doing it slowly and with a flourish while intoning in Latin at full volume? Or should I just do it as I would if no one were watching but God?

It’s the same with saying Grace before meals in a public restaurant, or having your Scapular pop out of your collar, etc. You deal with it like fixing your tie or cleaning your specs or putting ketchup on your chips: as if it were the most normal thing in the world – which, if you’re Catholic, it should be.

Ashes on your forehead, same-o same-o: they’re there, they are an outward sign of your faith – same as the “RC” on my dog tags. And I try to remember they are there, inasmuch as I try to remember the reason they are there: mortality. Other than that, I try not to be any more “aware” of them than I am of my socks, which, while very nice, I do not try to draw attention to, nor do I try to deny that I have them on.

Where I work, we have associates who wear the hijab or knit cap. We have customers who wear hijab, burka, kippah, turban, tallit, Roman collars, habits, or black plastic name tags with the word “Elder” on them. If I had to work today, I would not have consciously wiped off the ashes, but if they had worn off through sweat or mopping my brow, I wouldn’t go “re-apply” either – it ain’t mascara.

I’m nearsighted: I have glasses. I’m fat: I wear expand-o-matic trousers. I’m balding: I have a beard. I’m Catholic: I have ashes. Tomorrow I might get laser surgery, liposuction, and a combover – or not – but my forehead will be as naked and shiny as the day I was born. Because I’m Catholic, and tomorrow ain’t Ash Wednesday.

But that’s just me. This opinion plus two quarters will get you a half dollar.
 
Actually, if anyone asks me next Ash Wednesday about it, I’ll just answer, “Because yesterday was Pancake Day!” 😃
 
Ghoti said:
Actually, if anyone asks me next Ash Wednesday about it, I’ll just answer, “Because yesterday was Pancake Day!” 😃
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hehe … or just something smarmy like ‘REALLY? Fancy me having a big black smudge on my forehead on Ash Wednesday - what a coincidence!’
 
Ok, gotta tell my best Ash Wednesday story: about 10 years ago, went to the 6:30 a.m. Mass, went to work with my ashes. We are having a staff meeting first thing in the a.m., one of my fellow co-workers is a SERIOUSLY gungho, fundamentalist, born-again, Protestant youth minister. Sees the ashes and goes after me. I explain, he doesn’t really listen but just goes on and on with his misguided babbling. I reach my tolerance level and say, “You know, we use these for converting people, too.” Then I rub my forehead on his real quick before he has a chance to react! :yup:

Thought he was going to have a stroke…
 
Since my conversion, I have made it a point to attend Mass in the morning so that I can wear the ashes on my forehead all day. Last year, I made a point of scheduling a couple of meetings.

I am proud to be Catholic in this very un-Christian and un-churched part of he country.
 
I went to 9.30am Mass and we had all the primary school children there as well. When I left Mass and went into my local shop I did get a strange look, but I did keep the ashes on my forehead all day.
 
I went to 7:30 PM Mass last night, and some ashes are still left on my forehead this morning. I haven’t completely washed them off yet.

Now I’m thinking this may not be appropriate to keep the ashes visible after Ash Wednesday, does anyone else do this?
 
StarMaiden said:
I went to 9.30am Mass and we had all the primary school children there as well. When I left Mass and went into my local shop I did get a strange look, but I did keep the ashes on my forehead all day.
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I did get a few strange looks, but for the first time ever, nobody told me that I had something on my forehead or that my forehead was dirty. I went about my day as usual after Mass, but I was a little sad that I didn’t see ashes on others in this very Catholic community. The only others I saw with ashes were my own family members.
 
Maverick said:
I went to 7:30 PM Mass last night, and some ashes are still left on my forehead this morning. I haven’t completely washed them off yet.

Now I’m thinking this may not be appropriate to keep the ashes visible after Ash Wednesday, does anyone else do this?
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No, because I go about my usual routine and a morning shower removes all traces of the ashes left from Ash Wednesday.
 
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