The use of ashes on Ash Wednesday is a more recent custom among most LCMS congregations, although some have done it for decades. If they are applied during an act of kneeling, the very posture of defeat and submission expresses humility before God.” 3 Ashes can symbolize dust-to-dustness and remind worshipers of the need for cleansing, scrubbing and purifying. This ancient act is a gesture of repentance and a powerful reminder about the meaning of the day. Lutheran Worship: History and Practice, a commentary on Lutheran Worship, says this about ashes on Ash Wednesday: “Other customs may be used, particularly the imposition of ashes on those who wish it. Throughout the Bible, ashes are associated with repentance (see Job 42:6 Jonah 3:5–6 Daniel 9:3 Matthew 11:21). Ash Wednesday receives its name from the medieval and Roman ceremony of blessing ashes made from palms given out on the preceding Palm Sunday and marking the foreheads of worshipers with these ashes as an expression of penitence 2. Since the Middle Ages, the Church has used ashes to mark the beginning of the penitential season of Lent, when we remember our mortality and mourn for our sins 1.
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