Can you put ashes on yourself for Ash Wednesday?

On Ash Wednesday, many Catholics mark the beginning of the season of Lent by going to mass and having the priest place a smear of ashes on their foreheads, as a sign of their own mortality. Should Catholics keep their ashes on all day, or can they take their ashes off after Mass?

Ash Wednesday Practice

The practice of receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday is a popular devotion for Roman Catholics (and even for certain Protestants). Even though Ash Wednesday is not a Holy Day of Obligation, many Catholics attend Mass on Ash Wednesday in order to receive the ashes, which are rubbed on their foreheads in the form of the Cross (the practice in the United States), or sprinkled on top of their heads (the practice in Europe).

As the priest distributes the ashes, he tells each Catholic, "Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you shall return," or "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel," as a reminder of one's mortality and of the need to repent before it is too late.

No Rules, Just Right

Most (if not all) Catholics who attend Mass on Ash Wednesday choose to receive ashes, although there are no rules requiring that they do so. Similarly, anyone who receives ashes can decide for himself how long he wishes to keep them on. While most Catholics keep them on at least throughout Mass (if they receive them before or during Mass), a person could choose to rub them off immediately. And while many Catholics keep their Ash Wednesday ashes on until bedtime, there's no requirement that they do so.

Wearing one's ashes throughout the day on Ash Wednesday helps Catholics remember why they received them in the first place; a way to humble themselves at the very beginning of Lent and as a public expression of their faith. Still, those who feel uncomfortable wearing their ashes outside of the church, or those who, because of jobs or other duties, cannot keep them on all day should not worry about removing them. In the same way, if the ashes naturally fall off, or if they are accidentally rubbed off, there is no need to be concerned.

A Day of Fasting and Abstinence

Rather than keeping the visible mark on one's forehead, the Catholic church values the observance of the rules of fasting and abstinence. Ash Wednesday is a day of strict fasting and abstinence from all meat and food made with meat.

In fact, every Friday during Lent is a day of abstinence: every Catholic over the age of 14 must abstain from eating meat on those days. But on Ash Wednesday, practicing Catholics also fast, which is defined by the church as consuming only one full meal per day along with two small snacks that don't add up to a full meal. Fasting is considered a way to remind and unite the parishioners with Christ's ultimate sacrifice on the Cross.

As the first day in Lent, Ash Wednesday is when Catholics begin the high holy days, the celebration of the founder Jesus Christ's sacrifice and rebirth, in whichever way they choose to remember it.

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Richert, Scott P. "Should Catholics Keep Their Ashes on All Day on Ash Wednesday?" Learn Religions. https://www.learnreligions.com/wearing-ashes-on-ash-wednesday-542499 (accessed December 31, 2022).

In the Gospel for that day we’re told to avoid drawing attention to ourselves when we do good works: “[But] take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people might see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 6:1).

Joy Kusel prays after receiving ashes during Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Bernard of Clairvaux Church in Tulsa., Okla., Feb. 17. The Catholic Church observes the start of Lent by marking baptized Christians with a public and communal sign of penance. (CNS photo/Dave Crenshaw, Eastern Oklahoma Catholic) (Feb. 17, 2010)

But then immediately after that, the priest marks a cross on our foreheads with black ashes. Even though it often ends up looking more like a black smudge than a cross, it’s hard to disguise the fact that you’ve received ashes on Ash Wednesday.

If you go to Mass in the morning or during the day, you have a dilemma: Do you keep the ashes on your forehead and let everyone know you just went to church or do you wipe them off so as not to draw attention to yourself?

It all depends on your motivation, according to Father John Gallas, pastor of SS. Peter and Paul in Loretto, and Father John Paul Erickson, director of the Office of Worship in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

“It would be a mistake to think that Jesus forbids or even discourages the outward and public show of religion,” according to Father Gallas. “In Matthew 6:1, he is not discouraging the outward show, but the interior pride that can undermine it.”

We can reveal our faith in different ways such as by wearing a crucifix or even by taking a stand on a moral or ethical issue, he said. This fulfills another thing Jesus says in the Gospel: “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Receiving ashes isn’t a good work but a visible sign of sorrow for our sins, Father Erickson said. In the Old Testament, penitents wore sackcloth and ashes to publically atone for sin, he said. The king of Nineveh ordered all residents to wear them after the prophet Jonah foretold mass destruction, and King David wore sackcloth and ashes after committing serious sin, he added.

According to Father Gallas, we wear ashes as a sign of the need for repentance. “The ashes help us accomplish our duty of giving public witness as Catholics, they remind us that people see us as Catholics, and that in our baptism we were marked for Christ.”

European Catholics may avoid the question of whether or not to wear ashes because the tradition there is to sprinkle them on the head rather than mark a cross on the forehead. That’s how Pope Benedict has received them.

Receiving ashes on the forehead is one way we enter into the penitential nature of Ash Wednesday together. Prudence should dictate whether we keep them on or wipe them off after Mass. Ashes aren’t anything to hide but they’re nothing to boast about either.

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