Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent. It is a day of fast and abstinence, though it is not a holy day of obligation. During the Ash Wednesday Mass, ashes are marked on the foreheads of the faithful with the Sign of the Cross.
The ashes are a symbol of penance and remind us that we are creatures of the earth and mortal beings: “For dust you are and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:19).
Today, the priest marks the foreheads of the faithful with the ashes while saying, “Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you will return,” or “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”
During earlier observances of Lent, the season began on Quadragesima Sunday, the sixth Sunday before Easter. But because no fast was kept on Sundays, the penitential season consisted of only 36 days of fasting. So that the faithful may imitate Jesus’ 40 days of fasting in the desert, four days were added. To add these four days, Pope St. Gregory the Great moved the start of Lent to the Wednesday before Quadragesima Sunday.
The ashes, which help us to develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice, are made from the blessed palms used in the Palm Sunday celebration of the previous year. The ashes are blessed with holy water. While the ashes symbolize penance and contrition, “they are also a reminder that God is gracious and merciful to those who call on Him with repentant hearts,” states Catholic.org.
The customary use of ashes as a sign of repentance is seen in the Books of Jeremiah, Daniel and Jonah of the Old Testament. In the Book of Judith, acts of repentance involved ashes being put on people’s heads: “All the Israelites in Jerusalem, including women and children, lay prostrate in front of the Temple, and with ashes on their heads stretched out their hands before the Lord” (Judith 4:1).
The practice within the Church originated from a custom involving those who had committed serious sins. In the ancient Church, penitents expressed their humiliation by appearing in sackcloth and ashes. On Ash Wednesday they were presented to the bishop, clothed in sackcloth and barefooted.
After the seven penitential psalms were sung, the bishop laid his hands on them, sprinkled them with holy water, and poured ashes upon their heads, declaring “that as Adam was cast out of paradise, so they, for their sins, were cast out of the Church. Then the inferior ministers expelled them out of the doors of the church. In the end of Lent, on the Thursday before Easter, they were presented for reconciliation,” according to the “Cyclopaedia of Biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical literature” by John McClintock.
— Sources: “Cyclopaedia of Biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical literature,” by John McClintock, and www.catholic.org
The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, Feb. 22, celebrates the papacy and St. Peter as the first bishop of Rome. St. Peter's original name was Simon. He was married and was living and working in Capernaum as a fisherman when Jesus called him to be one of the Twelve Apostles.
Jesus bestowed on Peter a special place among the Apostles. He was one of the three who were with Christ on special occasions, such as the Transfiguration of Christ and the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemani. He was the only Apostle to whom Christ appeared on the first day after the Resurrection. Peter, in turn, often spoke on behalf of the Apostles.
When Jesus asked the Apostles: "Whom do men say that the Son of Man is?" Simon replied: "Thou art Christ, the Son of the Living God."
And Jesus responded: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona. For flesh and blood have not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to you, you are Peter [Cephas, a rock], and upon this rock [Cephas] I will build my Church [ekklesian], and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." (Mt 16:13-19)
In saying this, Jesus made St. Peter the head of the entire community of believers and placed the spiritual guidance of the faithful in St. Peter's hands.
However, St. Peter was not without faults. He was rash and reproached often by Christ. He had fallen asleep in the Garden of Gethsemani instead of praying, as Jesus had asked him to do. He also denied knowing Jesus three times after Christ's arrest.
Peter delivered the first public sermon after Pentecost and won a large number of converts. He also performed many miracles and defended the freedom of the Apostles to preach the Gospels. He preached in Jerusalem, Judaea and as far north as Syria.
He was arrested in Jerusalem under Herod Agrippa I, but he miraculously escaped execution. He left Jerusalem and eventually went to Rome, where he preached during the last portion of his life. He was crucified there, head downward, as he had desired to suffer, saying that he did not deserve to die as Christ had died.
The date of St. Peter's death is not clear. Historians estimate he was executed between the years 64 and 68. His remains now rest beneath the altar of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
— Catholic News Agency