MEDITATION FOR ASH WEDNESDAY

MEDITATION FOR ASH WEDNESDAY

THE THOUGHT OF DEATH A REMINDER OF PENANCE

“Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return” (Mos. 3, 19).

First Prelude: Hear Holy Mother Church, speaking through the mouth of the priest while he distributes blessed ashes: “Remember, O man, that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return.”

Second Prelude: Replenish our hearts, O Lord, with sentiments of true compunction and penance, which Holy Mother Church so ardently desires to infuse into her children at the beginning of this holy season.

First Point

THE ASHES, A REMINDER OF DEATH

With our first parents in paradise we were doomed to die, through the words: “Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return.” Holy Church wishes to remind us of this sentence by strewing blessed ashes on our heads. Let us often think of death, especially during the holy season of Lent, for it is a wholesome thought which will preserve us from sin, as the Holy Ghost Himself assures us, “In all thy works remember thy last end and thou shalt never sin” (Eccl. 7, 40). If mankind, instead of grievously offending God, would reflect seriously on death, they would certainly recoil from sin; but they simply banish far from their minds all such thoughts and seek to lull themselves into a false slumber in the turmoil of worldly pleasures.

We, on the contrary, have the great grace to be reminded of death so often; our Holy Rule bids us call it to mind every hour. We often face death, see it in various forms, severing body and soul, now calmly, now in a fierce struggle, but always accosting us with the earnest admonition: “It is appointed unto men to die” (Hebr. 9, 27). How salutary is this admonition, how well calculated to preserve us from tepidity, to help us atone for past sins by penance, and to incite us to persevere in the practice of good works!

Holy Church, therefore, exhorts us to penance today, at the beginning of the Lenten season. Mindful that the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, we should appear before God humbly penitent, and willing to shoulder whatever is bitter or repugnant in the discharge of our duties.

Second Point

THE THOUGHT OF DEATH HELPS US CRUSH OUR EVIL TENDENCIES

“I die daily” (Cor. 15, 31), St. Paul writes to the Corinthians. Let us strive to imitate Him, and accordingly prepare ourselves better for the last moment of our life. How foolish are not most people in this regard! They exert themselves to master the various arts and sciences but at the same time they neglect the one art—to die well. Consequently, death seems to them bitter and hard, and so many die an unhappy death. Religious, on the contrary, have already partly overcome that which renders death so difficult; they have left their relatives for the love of God; have severed all ties of flesh and blood; have sacrificed temporal goods and renounced the joys of life. Jesus is their love, their happiness, their wealth, Whom they confidently hope to possess perfectly throughout eternity. To the good religious, therefore, apply the words: “Blessed are the dead, who die in the Lord” (Rev. 14, 13). Would we share this happiness and partake of this bliss, then we must strive earnestly to fix our attention on the things of eternity, and with all diligence labor to acquire the goods which death cannot rob. This evidently imposes many a sacrifice upon our corrupt nature, which we must constantly curb, using violence as the Apostle says: “I die daily.” This incessant struggle, this constant self-denial, seems so difficult to him that he terms it “dying.” But if we thus daily die the death of the just, we shall at the same time, like them, live happily in Jesus. We shall finally be able to say with St. Paul: “I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 12, 20). May we practice the art of dying to self, especially during the holy season of Lent. Everyone is equal to the task, and none should seek to exempt themselves, for by no other form of penance can we give greater joy to our Blessed Lord.

Affections: O my God, I have sinned and deserve Thy just punishment; therefore, I will enter into the spirit of Holy Church and begin the penitential season with sentiments of profound humility, sincere compunction, and holy fervor, that it may truly be for me a time of grace and mercy. Grant that the constant remembrance of death may imbue me with a wholesome fear, and preserve me from sin. Let me daily realize my faults and my utter unworthiness that I may become truly humble, contrite of heart, and thus please God in all my actions. Give us all the grace, O my Saviour, to pass this holy season in silence and holy recollection, and in the earnest effort to advance in perfection.

Resolution: I will be zealous in the practice of the mortifications that are most conducive to my advancement in perfection.

Spiritual Bouquet: “Remember, O man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return.”

Prayer: Take, O Lord . . .