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February 8, 2021By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press
Receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17, will be different this year, because of the coronavirus. The diocese is making recommendations for continuing this tradition safely.
Msgr. James P. Moroney, director of the diocesan Office for Divine Worship, explained the procedure as follows in emails to priests and The Catholic Free Press.
The priest first says the prayer for blessing the ashes. He sprinkles the ashes with holy water without saying anything.
Then he addresses all those present and says one of the following once, applying it to all: “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” or “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
He cleanses his hands, dons a face mask and distributes ashes.
To avoid transmission of the virus, yet maintain the usual manner of distribution, Bishop McManus has recommended that ashes be applied to each person’s forehead with an individual Q-tip, with each Q-tip being discarded after it is used once, Msgr. Moroney said.
“With the recent publication of a note from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on the distribution of ashes in a time of pandemic, Bishop McManus has asked me to clarify the recommended procedure,” Msgr. Moroney told priests. The clarification was an update of what had been published in the January 2021 issue of “Orantes,” the Divine Worship office’s newsletter.
“In most English-speaking countries, ashes are applied to the forehead in the form of a cross, while in most non-English speaking countries ashes are usually sprinkled on top of the head,” he told The Catholic Free Press.
“The imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday dates to the time of Pope Gregory the Great (540-604). The blessed ashes imposed upon our forehead are a sign that reminds us of our condition as creatures, that invites us to repent, and to intensify our commitment to convert, to follow the Lord ever more closely,” Msgr. Moroney said, using points Pope Benedict XVI made in 2011.
