The first day of Lent is Ash Wednesday. On this special day of reflection, Catholics wear a marking of the cross in ash on their foreheads. The ashes symbolize our mortality – “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” But you might be wondering, where do the ashes for Ash Wednesday come from?
The ashes symbolize both death and repentance. During this period, Christians show repentance and mourning for their sins, because they believe Christ died for them.
Ash Wednesday is observed by numerous denominations within Western Christianity. Roman Rite Roman Catholics observe it, along with certain Protestants like Lutherans, Anglicans, some Reformed churches, some Baptists, Methodists (including Nazarenes and Wesleyans), the Evangelical Covenant Church, and some Mennonites.
Ash Wednesday is not a Holy Day of Obligation for Roman Catholics, yet receiving ashes is a universal practice among Christians to begin their Lenten journeys. Most Catholic parishes offer Ash Wednesday Mass, and in some places, it is possible to receive ashes without attending Mass.
Where do the ashes come from? Traditionally, ashes used on Ash Wednesday are gathered up after palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday are burned. They are then blessed before being used in the ceremony.
A deceased loved one, said Father Salsa, should be in a place “accessible to everyone, where they can be venerated,” so a cemetery is preferable to a home. And scattering ashes can be “misunderstood as a sort of religion of nature, while we believe in resurrection,” he said.
Cremation does not “prevent God, in his omnipotence, from raising up the deceased body to new life,” the Vatican says, but it does raise the possibility that the deceased's body, which the church believes is sacred, will not be properly respected by ancestors and relatives.
Is it a sin to not get ashes on Ash Wednesday? Some people believe that it is a sin to miss receiving ashes on this day. Some even believe that one would not go to heaven if he or she were not marked with blessed ashes. Neither is true.
Although traditional burial procedure which reflects respect for the body is still normal Catholic practice, cremation is allowed by the Catholic Church for justifiable reasons. Cremation would ordinarily take place after the Funeral Liturgy.
Does the Church have a preference for either cremation or burial of the body of the deceased? Although cremation is permitted, Catholic teaching continues to stress the preference for burial or entombment of the body of the deceased. This is done in imitation of the burial of Jesus' body.
Of all world religions, Islam is probably the most strongly opposed to cremation. Unlike Judaism and Christianity, there is little diversity of opinion about it. Cremation is considered by Islam to be an unclean practice.
Catholic views on condoms. The Catholic Church's opposition to contraception includes a prohibition on condoms. It believes that chastity should be the primary means of preventing the transmission of AIDS.
Catholics believe that the soul is immortal and does not depend on the physical body. Since cremation of the deceased's remains do not affect his or her soul, according to the Church, there are no doctrinal objections to the practice.
It reminds to Catholics inter cremated remains in cemeteries or other sacred places and that remains "should not be scattered in the air, on land, or at sea." The Vatican also decreed that ashes should not be divided, kept at home, or transformed (e.g., keepsake jewelry).
A: In the Bible, cremation is not labeled a sinful practice. Frankly, the topic is not dealt with at all in terms of the detailed lists of instructions for living and dying set forth by almighty God in the Old and New testaments. The short answer to your question appears to be no, cremation is not a sin.
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.
The newest guidelines from the Vatican state that Catholic people can be cremated, but their ashes should not be scattered at sea, and the urn should not be kept in the home. The guidelines state that the cremains should be kept in a sacred place like a church cemetery.
You certainly can! There are several regulations governing ash spreading, but none governing ash division. Following a loved one's cremation, some families prefer to split the ashes.
Since all of the organic matter is burned away during cremation, this is why ashes can last (almost) forever - or at least for our entire lifetime. Bones are still DNA and scientists believe that DNA has survived for about one million years.
Here are the top cremation myths and what the Catholic church has to say about them. Cremated ashes can be scattered. Though the Pope and the Church approve of cremation, scattering of one's ashes is strictly prohibited.
What's really returned to you is the person's skeleton. Once you burn off all the water, soft tissue, organs, skin, hair, cremation container/casket, etc., what you're left with is bone. When complete, the bones are allowed to cool to a temperature that they can be handled and are placed into a processing machine.
Roman Catholic Church
In 1963, Pope John XXIII lifted the ban on cremation and in 1966 Pope Paul VI allowed Catholic priests to officiate at cremation ceremonies.
A man's orgasm is always tied to his fertility, so, therefore, the Church states that oral sex that would end with a male orgasm outside of sexual intercourse is not permissible.
Yes, oral sex is sex; no, the Catholic Church does not say that you can do whatever you want as long as you are not having intercourse. No, you will not necessarily go to hell for having sex outside of marriage, but it is a mortal sin that must be sincerely confessed if one does it.
Paul makes it perfectly clear that the ceremonial law is no longer binding. I'll cut to the chase: There is nothing immoral about tattoos. Mother Church has never condemned them, and neither can I. It is one of those areas where a Catholic must follow his or her conscience.