I thought every Christian knew

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I didn’t grow up Catholic, but it’s something that I’ve been aware of since I was much younger. I suppose part of it is the fact that I grew up in Rhode Island, which is a largely Catholic state.
 
I grew up in the Presbyterian church and we always went to church on Ash Wednesday to get our ashes. Later, as a Baptist, I did not. I didn’t learn until a couple years ago that it was primarily a Catholic practice.

Yesterday, when grocery shopping, one woman looked at me and muttered, “Is it Ash Wednesday already? This year is flying by.” At my doctor appointment yesterday afternoon, the doctor asked if I’d fallen and bruised my head. I told him it was Ash Wednesday, but he didn’t seem to know what I meant by that. There were hundreds at my church’s noon mass and I’m sure similar numbers at the other masses yesterday, with continuous ashes being offered all afternoon and evening, but I didn’t see anyone else outside of mass wearing ashes. Perhaps they washed them off. I like to wear them all day, but I do tend to feel conspicuous these days when so few have them.

In addition to the explanation offered by a previous poster of sinners repenting with sackcloth and ashes, I have also been told that Ash Wednesday is a reminder of our sin leading to death. “You have come from dust and to dust you will return”; with the ashes being the dust and the ash on our forehead being a visible reminder that our sin and disobedience to God leads to death, a reminder to repent and seek forgiveness.
 
whatsmyname said:
In addition to the explanation offered by a previous poster of sinners repenting with sackcloth and ashes, I have also been told that Ash Wednesday is a reminder of our sin leading to death. “You have come from dust and to dust you will return”; with the ashes being the dust and the ash on our forehead being a visible reminder that our sin and disobedience to God leads to death, a reminder to repent and seek forgiveness.
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👍 I was just going to add this… thanks!
 
My wife and I attend a Methodist church and we had a church service on Ash Wednesday and got ashes placed on our foreheads.

We had been Assembly of God for several years and they didn’t observe the practice.

As others have stated, to have ashes put on your forehead serves mainly as a reminder of how we came from dust and to dust we shall return (Genesis 3:19), and also for the need of repentance and mercy as we enter the Lenten season.

The gospel text was Luke 18:9-14 about the difference between the attitudes of the Pharisee and tax collector when they prayed and how the tax collector left justified in the eyes of God.

You don’t have to receive ashes on Ash Wednesday to be a good Christian, in my opinion, but receiving ashes on your forehead is a vivid and special reminder that stays with you for awhile and I’m glad I did it.

It was a solemn ceremony but beautiful at the same time, if that makes sense.
 
Lenten_ashes said:
I’ve heard that many years ago, Protestants didn’t even accept Christmas day as a holiday. If that’s true, then I’m pretty sure they also did not observe Lent.

So I wonder when they started observing it
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The Jehovah’s Witnesses are the only ones I know who don’t celebrate Christmas, and I don’t think they are even considered Christian in many circles.

Before I knew one of my co-workers was Jehovah’s Witness. I asked him if he had a good Christmas, and he replied, “If you are referring to Dec 25th, I worked that day”.
 
I was in my mid-thirties when I was watching TV news and saw Robert Novak with ashes on his forehead–never saw anything like it before in my life. Took a fair bit of research to find out exactly what that was supposed to denote, and I’d never before heard of anything like it. If not for that coincidental discovery, I’m not sure I’d ever have heard of the practice to this day.
 
I grew up Fundamentalist and never saw Ash Wednesday celebrated until well into my adult years. It was only when I moved to an area with a high Catholic population that I had the slightest idea what it was.

As for Christmas, we certainly celebrated it, but we had no church services on Christmas. We had carols and sermons about Christmas from the Sunday after Thanksgiving until the Sunday before Christmas. If Christmas fell on Sunday, there would be no church service that day.

The Sunday after Christmas was a normal Sunday with no Christmas carols at all. The only mention of Christmas was the preacher saying he hoped everyone had a good Christmas. There were no liturgical seasons.
 
One Lutheran church I attended saved their Christmas tree trunks and used them to make the Cross for Lent and Good Friday. Parts of the trees were burnt and used to place the ashes on our foreheads.

Another church I attended started the service by placing the ashes on our foreheads. He spoke about the ashes and what they meant for us. When the service was beginning to end we all walked forward again and, to commemorate our baptism in Christ, the pastor washed the ashes off of us. For me that was probably the most powerful Ash Wednesday service ever.

God bless all,

Rita
 
I don’t even remember. I grew up Pentecostal in a predominately Baptist area, but I may have heard it first on NPR in my teenage days. It’s just a guess…they’re actually the place I first heard the expression “Holy Week”.
 
Tommy999 said:
The Jehovah’s Witnesses are the only ones I know who don’t celebrate Christmas, and I don’t think they are even considered Christian in many circles.

Before I knew one of my co-workers was Jehovah’s Witness. I asked him if he had a good Christmas, and he replied, “If you are referring to Dec 25th, I worked that day”.
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Church of Christ members do not celebrate Christmas either, at least as a church holiday. They do not observe any religious days at all.

But they do Christmas as a secular day.
 
Zabdi_Premjit said:
Your location is listed as the Heart of Dixie. Can I safely assume that Catholics are only a small minority where you are? Most parts of Dixieland aren’t exactly Popeland. 😛
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No, it isn’t Popeland, but I grew up here and knew. Lol.
 
I grew up observing Lent and Christmas. Going to church on Ash Wednesday to get ashes was something that I always did.
 
KendraDZ1902 said:
Obviously, being on CAF, everyone here knows about them, but when did you learn about ashes on Ash Wednesday?
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When I went to Mass on Ash Wednesday for the first time, as a catechumen. The week before people (Catholics) explained it.

There are very few Catholics where I live. I never saw anyone with ashes, and still don’t. Other than those at Mass of course.
 
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