“If the minister accidentally touches the recipient, they must sanitize hands again. The use of oil may, therefore, be unnecessary. New C of E guidance for Lent, Holy Week, and Easter, published on Tuesday, however, states that priests should sanitise their hands immediately before the imposition of ashes begins, stand at “arm’s length” from the recipient, and “sprinkle” the ashes on each recipient’s head “without touching them or speaking any words”. Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ.”

In normal times, to mark the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday, the priest would mark a cross on the forehead of each recipient and recite the words: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Churches may choose to reopen for Lent services, by which time the lockdown will have been reviewed by the Government.

While government guidance permits places of worship in England to remain open under the current restrictions, many churches have chosen to close anyway to mitigate the risk of coronavirus infection. Throughout this time, those marking Lent will fast or give up certain luxuries, while others may go to church more often or say an extra prayer every day.THE imposition of ashes will be permitted during Ash Wednesday services next month, with precautions, for Church of England churches that are open for public worship during the current lockdown, new guidance states. Its basis in the sacrifices made by Jesus means Lent is traditionally a period of abstinence, with many non-Christians still getting into the spirit of the season by giving up a particular treat.

Lent, a shortened form of the Old English word Lenten meaning “spring season”, lasts 40 days of fasting (Sundays are generally excluded during the period) before culminating in the Easter week.ĭepending on the denomination, the end date falls either on Holy Thursday, the day before Good Friday, or Holy Saturday on the eve of Easter Sunday. An Ash Wednesday parade to St Paul’s Cathedral, London, in 1935 (Topical Press Agency/Getty Images) When does Lent end in 2019? The gesture is accompanied with the words “Repent, and believe in the Gospel,” or “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”, phrases designed to remind worshippers of their mortality and the need to repent. The ashes have biblical significance as a means of expressing grief, both in the sense of mourning and in expressing sorrow for sins and faults.įrom the earliest times, Christians have therefore used them as an external sign of repentance, with their use around the start of Lent established by the early medieval times.

Ash wednesday 2019 imposition ashes