Ash Wednesday will be a bit different this year, thanks to pandemic
In a DIY world, why not have a how-to Ash Wednesday home kit during the coronavirus pandemic?
Parishioners of the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Atlanta received a small packet of palm ashes in the mail with a prayer and brief instructions on how to bless the receiver.
It’s “radically different,” said Monsignor Henry Gracz, who has been pastor at the downtown church for two decades.
Ash Wednesday is a holy day that many mainline Christian denominations observe as the beginning of the 40-day Lenten season, a period of fasting, prayer, reflection, repentance, mourning and sacrifice.
Ash packets were mailed to roughly 600 households, and the response has been very positive, Gracz said.
“We started thinking outside of the box,” he said. “As you know, some evangelists send out prayer blankets in the mail. We said, ‘Why don’t we think of ways to package ashes in small envelopes with prayers and directions?’”
The church is still holding Mass online, but Gracz figured this could provide a way for parishioners to share in the observance together. There will be a simultaneous sharing of ashes at the 8 a.m., noon and 7 p.m. Masses for those watching online.
As with almost everything else in the past year, COVID-19 has changed how we worship and celebrate and plan religious observances.
And it’s no different for Ash Wednesday, also known as the Day of Ashes.
The ashes symbolize humanity, but also the need for repentance, said Gracz.
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Lent culminates with Easter, when Christians believe Jesus was resurrected.
Elsewhere in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta, things are going old school.
Sprinkle instead of smudge.
Rather than have the priest use his thumb to impose the ashes in the shape of a cross, this year ashes can be sprinkled on the top of the head, said Maureen Smith, director of communications for the archdiocese. Others are using individual cotton swabs or some other instrument that has been blessed to be discarded after each use and later burned.
Smith said it’s an ancient tradition that is still practiced in some European nations, where they sprinkle ashes.
Several denominations are offering a drive-thru option.
The Episcopal Church also has the DIY option.
Don Plummer, the community engagement officer at the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, recently picked up his packet of ashes.
He said pastors and ministers will impose the ashes on a person’s forehead using gauze pads or Q-tips and disposing of each one after use. Congregants could also pick up ashes to administer themselves.
“We really had to think of new ways to do old things,” he said.
Plummer said he and his wife, Sally, plan to watch the service online, then bless each other with the ashes.
“Everything is new.”
About the Author
Shelia has worked at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for more than 30 years. Previously, she worked at The Lexington Herald-Leader and The Louisville Defender. Her beat is a bit of a mixed bag that includes religion and spirituality, culture and trends, race and aging. She earned degrees from Spelman College and Northwestern University.
