Published: Friday, 19th February, 2010 5:00pm

Ashes to ashes

Pic by==: 97

Ash Wednesday is a significant day for many who call themselves Christians. Though maybe not as significant as it used to be in times past?

In my younger days we dreaded the onset of Ash Wednesday with its insistence on giving up what we loved to eat and drink. We were expected to give up sweets and chocolate, while the adults had to give up the cigarettes and/or 'the drink'. And every household was expected to declare its hand in advance, as in 'What are you giving up for Lent?' Going public piled on the pressure to be 'good'. I remember giving up sugar in my tea for Lent and I never went back on it, except in coffee.

Mothers were great at getting the whole family into Lenten mode. I can still recall a day in February 1980, almost 30 years ago. Shrove Tuesday fell on the 19th that year. I remember calling in at home in the town and having a cup of tea and a piece of home-made apple tart with my mother. She asked me what I was giving up for Lent. "Sweets and chocolate," I mumbled in a deadpan sort of way. "Ah, go on," she said - mind you, she only said it once! "Give up the cigarettes, if only for the sake of your health."

I agreed to do so. But I also decided there and then I needed a safety net. So I went up the street to Young's and bought myself a packet of Silk Cut, just in case I got the wobbles on the Wednesday. And to this day, 30 years later, that unopened packet of cigarettes is lying somewhere in my house in Ballyhaise, only God knows where.

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent. It is meant to be about conversion and repentance in preparation for Easter. Hence the emphasis on fasting, prayer and sharing with those in need at home and abroad. Ashes - the burnt remains of the palms of the previous year - are applied to the forehead in the shape of a cross. They symbolise a person's willingness to enter wholeheartedly into the penitential regime of Lent.

In my days at school we had a bit of a jingle that was supposed to represent what the priest said as he applied the ashes to the forehead: Ashes to ashes, dust to dust; if God doesn't get you, the devil must. Of course, there wasn't a word about it. What the priest generally says today is: Repent and believe in the Gospel.

Season of Lent

Lent represents a kind of springtime in the Church's year. It's a time for green shoots to appear - am I into economics now? Never mind. I read somewhere recently that Lent could be seen as a time of 'spiritual refuelling'. Close to the mark.

Let me tell you a little about the origins of Lent. In the early days of Christianity adults preparing for Baptism were expected to undertake a 40-day period of intense prayer, fasting and sharing with the poor. Sackcloth and ashes, emblems of conversion/repentance, were part of their 'gear'. The 40-day period was intended as a reminder of the time Jesus spent in the wilderness. Soon it became the practice of the whole community to join the about-to-be-baptised in this preparation for new life, new creation.

The season came to a head, you might say, in what is called Holy Week or The Great Week, a week that ends with The Easter Triduum - Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil. On that night-vigil adults were baptised, confirmed and took a full part in the celebration of the Eucharist for the first time. They went down into a baptismal pool after discarding their old clothing and rose up to put on a new white garment, signifying their new life in the Risen Christ.

Postscript

The day before Ash Wednesday is called Shrove Tuesday but it got itself a nick-name of sorts in other lands. Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday!) tells its own story, a self-indulgent farewell kiss to the days of rich food and plenty. In some countries it provided an excuse for a celebration of carnival - the origin of the word in Latin means 'goodbye to meat', or perhaps, 'farewell to the flesh'! And don't forget, we had - maybe still have? - our own Pancake Tuesday when the last of the lard was used up and the pan was put away.

Return to: Homepage | Opinion Index | This article