Can you receive ashes multiple times?

[TheMortenBay]

This is my first post on here, so please don’t kill me if I put this is the wrong category.

I went to an Ash Wednesday (on Wednesday) where I received the ashes before the Mass (as per the Extraordinary Form).

Today, Saturday I helped out with catechesis of our First Communicants wherein the ashing liturgy was mentioned, followed by a Cathechesis Mass open to the public. After the homily the priest invited everyone to come receive the ashes, specifying that people were welcome to receive ashes even if they had previously received on Ash Wednesday.

So my question is essentially two-fold;

1: Are priests allowed to “transfer” the liturgy of the ashes to a Saturday? (I have no idea if the readings and prayers were also transferred)

And;
2: Are we allowed to receive the ashes multiple times, either on Ash Wednesday or otherwise?

 

[1ke]

Are priests allowed to “transfer” the liturgy of the ashes to a Saturday? (I have no idea if the readings and prayers were also transferred)

Doesn’t appear to me the priest “transfered” anything. It appears the priest distributed ashes as part of catechesis he was doing.

Are we allowed to receive the ashes multiple times, either on Ash Wednesday or otherwise?

Ashes are a sacramental. There is nothing in church law the regulates them. So it isn’t a matter of “being allowed”.

 

[TomH1]

The rules regarding imposition of ashes are scant, to say the least.

The Missal says, “The Priest places ashes on the head of all those present who come to him …”.

The Congregation for Divine Worship published a circular letter regarding these celebrations in 1988. Regarding Ash Wednesday it says:

"On the Wednesday before the first Sunday of Lent, the faithful receive the ashes, thus entering into the time established for the purification of their souls. This sign of penance, a traditionally biblical one, has been preserved among the Church’s customs until the present day. It signifies the human condition of the sinner, who seeks to express his guilt before the Lord in an exterior manner, and by so doing express his interior conversion, led on by the confident hope that the Lord will be merciful. This same sign marks the beginning of the way of conversion, which is developed through the celebration of the sacraments of penance during the days before Easter.

“The blessing and imposition of ashes should take place either in the Mass or outside of the Mass. In the latter case, it is to be part of a liturgy of the word and conclude with the prayer of the faithful.”

N.B. I sourced this information from a longer article on this topic from EWTN’s website.

 

[EugeneCharles]

Greetings of peace!
We welcome you to CA . We hope you can be a faithful servant of God.Maybe it is not allowed to transfer it because Ash Wednesday begins during the first 40 days of Lent and it is always Wednesday.You can have a multiple layers of ashes but we need to reconcile with all our heart .Ashes can not save us but they can be a symbol that we need to repent in order to be save and to do good.So we must be a good person in order to be save.