Ash Wednesday is the annual entry into the holiest seasons of the Church’s Liturgical year. We are guided through Lent through the practices of voluntary prayer, penance (mortification), and acts of generosity so that we are prepared for the Holy Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, culminating in the Easter Vigil and opening of the Easter Season, celebrating the glorious Resurrection of Jesus and our salvation. At times, at least to me, it seems that Ash Wednesday, as moving and as important as it is, sometimes is perhaps exaggerated in its importance, especially in relation to the Triduum and Easter Season. Most Catholics probably know that Ash Wednesday is not a holy day of obligation, however, it better attended than most holy days of obligation, perhaps including Easter. Why is that? I’m not sure, but I think it has something to do with the dramatic nature of the celebration and especially the receiving of ashes which remind us that our lives in this world are limited.
But the ashes of Ash Wednesday are blessed, and that means they are more than merely symbolic. In fact blessed ashes are sacramentals, that is, while they do not channel sanctifying grace as the seven Sacraments of the Faith do, sacramentals nonetheless dispose believers to receive grace through the sacraments. For example, we use holy water upon entering a church, which disposes us to a recollected and pious disposition for participating in the Eucharistic celebration, and especially the reception of Holy Communion. At times, it seems that the sacramentals can be more dramatic than the sacraments themselves (for example, an exorcism–probably the most dramatic sacramental–is more dramatic outwardly than the sacrament of Confession, but is less powerful in essence, as the sacrament of Confession remits sin, and confers sanctifying grace).
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1670) teaches: Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Church’s prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it. “For well-disposed members of the faithful, the liturgy of the sacraments and sacramentals sanctifies almost every event of their lives with the divine grace which flows from the Paschal mystery of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. From this source all sacraments and sacramentals draw their power. There is scarcely any proper use of material things which cannot be thus directed toward the sanctification of men and the praise of God.”
This Lent, let’s take good advantage of the sacraments and sacramentals to get closer to God as we journey toward The Holy Triduum and Easter Season!
Let's Repent! 