After blessings, ashes vital in services today

Ashes are a reminder of man’s mortality.

By LINDA M. LINONIS

VINDICATOR RELIGION EDITOR

YOUNGSTOWN — John Surak has served as sacristan at St. Columba Cathedral, 154 W. Wood St., for some 20 years. His duties are wide-ranging — taking care of the chalices and vestments, general maintenance, watering and weeding flowers in the spring and summer and transporting donations to the food pantry.

Surak did another of his duties a little after 9 a.m. Monday. He burned the palms left over from Palm Sunday the year before to make ashes. They’ll be used today, Ash Wednesday, during services. Though there is a ritual that some churches use when the palms are burned, the cathedral depends on its sacristan.

Surak performed the task outdoors next to the cathedral. He had cut up the palm fronds into short pieces, and they were dry. Carefully, he tossed a handful into a bucket and used a fireplace lighter to ignite them. It only took a second before the first bunch was ablaze and he added another handful. “They go up quick,” Surak said. The ashes are burned in advance to give them time to cool.

“I’ll put them in four bowls for the bishop [Bishop George V. Murry] to bless,” he said. The blessing will take place Ash Wednesday morning. And that makes the palms twice-blessed — once when they were distributed for Palm Sunday and as ashes.

Surak began work at the cathedral in the mid-1980s after being laid off from what is now Youngstown Steel Door Co. He was hired by Monsignor Lawrence Fye, now retired.

The burning of the palms is one of those practical chores that must be done, but a priest’s presence isn’t required.

When these palms were turned to ash, the Rev. John E. Keehner, rector at the cathedral, was on hand to offer some thoughts on the Lenten season.

Today, when Christians worldwide attend Ash Wednesday services, priests and ministers will say either “Remember, O man that you are dust and unto dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19) or “Turn away from sin and turn toward the Gospel” (Mark 1:15) as ashes are applied in the sign of a cross to each person’s forehead.

In Rome, Father Keehner said ashes are sprinkled over the head.

“In the Old Testament, ashes are a sign of repentance. Since the fourth century, ashes and sackcloth relate to that idea,” Father Keehner said.

The biblical phrase about dust reminds people that “we are mortal,” Father Keehner added. But people can look forward to Easter Sunday and the resurrection of Jesus. And, that made possible everyone’s eventual physical resurrection — the soul being reunited with the body for eternity, he explained.

And it’s also a time of almsgiving and fasting.

“It’s about making changes ... and ones that should become part of our daily lives. It shouldn’t just be for this season but continue the whole year,” Father Keehner said. “It’s part of our responsibility” he continued, to help those less fortunate year-round, not just at certain seasons.

“It’s a time to reflect on what is truly important and what’s not,” he said.

The priest also noted the cyclical aspect of the religious calendar, pointing out the 40 days of Lent. “It’s continues what has been done before. Forty has significance in the Bible,” he said.

For example, Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days, Moses was on Mount Sinai for 40 days, Noah endured a 40-day flood and the Jewish people wandered the desert for 40 years.

Lent, a time of prayer, penitence, self-denial, meditation and reflection, leads up to Holy Week and the Passion of Christ. The culmination is Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus.

“This is a time to grow. Christ’s death removed our mortality. We share in the significance of the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection,” Father Keehner said.

linonis@vindy.com