Saint Katharine Drexel Parish-SKDP

  Ash Wednesday Liturgies

Ash Wednesday, February 17, 2021

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12:00 NOON
Liturgy of the Word Service with Distribution of Ashes
Bentleyville Main Church
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12:00 NOON
Liturgy of the Word Service with Distribution of Ashes
Richeyville Mission Church
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6:30 PM
Mass with Distribution of Ashes
Bentleyville Main Church

     Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the distribution of ashes will be very different this year. The Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has issued a Note on how ashes are to be distributed in this time of the pandemic.

     “The priest or deacon will bless the ashes with holy water. He will then speak the formula only once as it appears in the Roman Missal, applying it to all in general: ‘Repent, and believe in the Gospel,’ or ‘Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’ The priest or deacon then cleanses his hands, and wearing a face mask, takes the ashes and SPRINKLES them on the head of each one without saying anything.”

     These changes minimize the necessity of physical contact between the minister and recipient and remove the need for the minister to speak while in close proximity to the recipient. The SPRINKLING of ashes on the head is a common practice in some countries but is not well known in the United States. So, please note that ashes will be SPRINKLED on top of the head without any words spoken by the minister distributing the ashes on Ash Wednesday this year (2021).