Ash Wednesday: Meditation on the Entrance Antiphon

“You are merciful to all, O Lord, and despise nothing that you have made. You overlook people’s sins, to bring them to repentance, and you spare them, for you are the Lord our God.” – Entrance Antiphon for Ash Wednesday

There is a unique atmosphere that penetrates this day. It is not a holy day of obligation, nor is it rated as a solemnity in the Church, yet it affects the lives of the Faithful more than almost all of those days. Today begins the holy season of Lent. 

Upon this day the Faithful will engage in a ceremony which goes all the way back into the Old Testament. They will receive ashes upon the forehead as a sign of their lowliness, sinfulness, and repentance. This practice is a most confounding one to our world, for not only is the practice "archaic," it goes against the very spirit of our world which both desires that one's religion be kept in the private sphere and that there is no such thing as sin. The reception of ashes, however, both declares to the Church and the world that we are guilty of sin!

In the early Church, there were three special features that marked the Season of Lent. First, the Church took a special interest and focus, liturgically, in the Passion of the Lord. Secondly, the intense final period of preparation of the Catechumens to be baptized at the Easter Vigil would begin. Finally, Lent was a period in which the reconciliation of public penitents would take place.

We must recall that the Sacrament of Confession, as we have it today, took an especially long time to develop, and it didn't reach its final form until the period of the Scholastic theologians in the Medieval Ages. The early Church often celebrated the Sacrament with a public confession of sins, and consequently, there was a desire amongst Church leaders that those sins which caused a more serious scandal should not be taken lightly in their absolution. Thus, those guilty of such sins were required to show their contrition through profound humiliation and public penance.

Part of this public penance would be to remain in the back of the church during services, clothed in sackcloth and ashes. Dom Prosper Gueranger, in his section of The Liturgical Year on Ash Wednesday, explains the ceremony of how the penitents began their period of penance. After being clothed in their penitential garments and signed with ashes, and prayers of penance being chanted, the doors of the church building would be shut to the penitents, as Adam and Eve were shut out of the Garden (Genesis 3:23-24).

While the other parts of this admirable rite fell into disuse and slowly faded away, the use of ashes continued and even gained favor among the Faithful, who were desirous to receive them as an exterior reminder of their transgressions and a sign of their repentance. Thus, the practice of distribution of ashes to all the Faithful on the Wednesday preceding the first Sunday of Lent became common practice, and eventually lent itself to the name of this day, i.e. Ash Wednesday.

Let us observe the words of Gueranger in regards to the attitude we must have in receiving the ashes upon our foreheads:

"When the priest puts the holy emblem of penance upon you, accept in a spirit of submission, the sentence of death, which God Himself pronounces against you: 'Remember, O man, that thou art dust, and into dust thou shalt return!' Humble yourself, and remember what it was that brought the punishment of death upon us: man wished to be as a god and preferred his own will to that of his sovereign Master. Reflect, too, on that long list of sins, which you have added to the sin of your first parents, and adore the mercy of your God, who asks only one death for all these your transgressions (Gueranger, The Liturgical Year, "Ash Wednesday")."

We should notice the mention of "one death" for our sins. It is important to remember that the spiritual authors often speak of two "deaths," one of the body and the other of the soul. Our Lord Himself speaks in this way (Matthew 10:28). There is the separation of the soul from the body, and this is the result of sin (Genesis 3:19). It is the condemnation we recall when we receive the ashes upon our foreheads and the minister gives us the sentence, "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return." Nevertheless, the second death, eternal separation from God in Hell, is not required by the Lord, but in His infinite mercy, He spares us from this, even though it is the fitting punishment for sin!

This is part of the great mystery that is God's love though, and which penetrates so deeply into the spirit of Lent - God is merciful! It is interesting to note that in the Rite of Penance one of the conclusions may be "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good," to which the response may either be, "For his love endures forever," or "For his mercy endures forever." When speaking of the mercy and love of God, we are really speaking of the same thing. The Lord is merciful because He is loving, and His love shows itself in His mercy.

Though the original order of creation was disrupted by sin, the Lord wished, and continues to desire, the restoration of the original order, for it was an order directed to Him. This is why the Entrance Antiphon for the first day of Lent chants, "You overlook people’s sins, to bring them to repentance, and you spare them, for you are the Lord our God." The overall purpose of this Holy Season of Lent is to bring us to a conversion of heart; God desires us to draw closer to Him. It is not a season in which we dwell on our sins; rather, it is a season in which we take note of our sins and failings in order to see both God's manifold and merciful love for us in sparing us of them and to find ways in which we may eliminate them from our lives, by His grace.

Any chastisement we receive from the Lord is for our benefit, as St. Paul says (Hebrews 12:6). Likewise, any penance we take upon ourselves should also be for our benefit. It should bring us closer to the Lord our God. Fasting is useless without prayer, for prayer is what unites us to God. Fasting, however, gives us a chance to make more room for God.

In this season of Lent, then, let us open our hearts more fully to the One Who calls us to Himself. Let us purge out all that hinders us from being authentically united to Him. And, lastly, may our hearts overflow with love, which we will show in mercy to our neighbors, just as God's love shows mercy unto us.