Ash Wednesday 2021: What to Expect

Good day, friends.

Mardi Gras flags are popping up in my neighborhood and I keep seeing advertisements for king cakes, which means that Ash Wednesday is drawing near. This year it falls on February 17, and part of the language in our worship for Ash Wednesday says this: “The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting.” (BCP 265-266) These are hallmarks of how we often describe Lent: a time of self-denial and repenting of sin, so that we can get back on the right track to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

Why ashes? Ashes are a sign of waywardness and humility. in Genesis 18, Abram interceded for Sodom’s sinfulness to the Lord, said “I am but dust and ashes,” as he bargained to spare some of the lives within those walls. Ashes are a sign of repentance. In Lamentations 2, God is angry and the elders of the berated Zion throw dust on their heads and don sackcloth, while sitting on the ground in silence.

What does this solemn day, and our liturgy to mark it, look like in the time of pandemic? At Saint Stephen’s we will be having several options. You may request your Ashes-at-Home kit (by February 8, to pick up February 14), which will include a small container of ashes and directions for imposing them on your forehead (and those of your housemates and neighbors).

You may also choose to come to the drive-by imposition of ashes at Saint Stephen’s on Ash Wednesday (7-8 a.m., 11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m., 5-6 p.m.). During the drive-by experience, we will have a contactless option, in which we can sprinkle ashes upon your forehead, in addition to the more familiar method of smearing a small ashen cross.

Join us online at Facebook or YouTube for Ash Wednesday worship at 12:00 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. During these services, we will direct you at the appropriate time to impose ashes. As you follow along, you may note that ashes are blessed and administered early in the service. While the Book of Common Prayer directs us to do this following the readings of Holy Scripture and the sermon, we are called to follow the words of Jesus from Matthew 6: “And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting.” So, we hold to the ritual and reminder of ashes, and yet live into the words of Jesus – not letting the ashes on our head disfigure our countenances.

There is a robust and interesting historical context around the imposition of ashes, and how we make the leap from placing a charcoal plus sign on your forehead to dribbling a bit of ashes. If you would like to read more, the former Bishop of Atlanta J. Neil Alexander wrote an article published by Building Faith, a Christian formation website.

I welcome you to join Saint Stephen’s as we embark upon the beginning of our Lenten journey in 2021.

Blessings and peace to you,

Katherine+