This is one of the only years in my life where I have been conscious of the coming of Ash Wednesday. Most years I would realize on the day of when I saw friends with ash on their foreheads, or I wouldn't realize it until a week or two after it had occurred. The truly unfortunate aspect of this realization is that the only services that I have been able to find here in Ithaca are tomorrow night, and I, of course, work from 4 PM till midnight tomorrow.
I have never actually attended an Ash Wednesday service, but it has been a concept that has greatly intrigued me over the last few years. Most of my interest sprang from The Mercy Seat's Fat Tuesday/Ash Wednesday concert series that they used to announce the opening of their church 2 years ago. The shows were held at a Northeast bar, and ashes were imposed at the end of Wednesday nights music. It was an experience that I was forced to miss due to my work schedule at Bethel, thus, I have been trying to be more conscious not to miss another opportunity like that one.
To be perfectly honest, the Fat Tuesday concept is pretty lost on me. In the brief amount of research I have done today, I figured out that the concept arose as a final celebration and consumption of meat before the fasting that would occur during lent. As I fully acknowledge that celebratory holidays aren't really my thing, I guess it isn't surprising that I'm not interested in the Mardi Gras idea. The part of me that longs for Good Friday, and the uncertainty and yearning that comes with that day is very intrigued by the Ash Wednesday idea. I will also caveat that there is probably an element of my having grown up in a very conservative Calvinist church that looked at things like Ash Wednesday as a heathen Catholic practice that no good Christian would ever take part in. So there is that whole rebellion element.
I guess the purpose of writing about this is to see if anyone else has any thoughts. Also, I am trying to decide at the last minute if I should give something up for Lent. I have only done that once before, it was my senior year of college and I gave up caffeine. I didn't really have a great reason behind doing it then, but I did sleep really well after the caffeine withdrawal wore off!
It is harder for me to judge how to approach something like this these days. I don't have the opportunity to have thoughtful, in-depth conversations about church/faith/practice like I used to when I was around a whole lot of people who were much more intelligent than I am about these things. I find that most conversations I have about faith these days are the ones at work when people wonder why in the world an intelligent person would be religious and what in the world did I think I would do with a degree in Theology and Biblical Studies. Its a brave new world.
-cody
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Hi Cody, Madd props on exploring new traditions when it comes to all things spiritual. Having grown-up irish catholic (and in Ithaca), I can tell you that most people with my upbringing pretty-much abandon tradition until they reach their late-twenties when it becomes obvious that ethnic culture, upbringing, and some semblance of piety, no matter what you religion, becomes important.
Fasting for Lent in America is a very different thing than elsewhere in Christian circles. Spring (post-winter) fasting pre-dates even Semitic tradition and can be found in assyrian, and arctic cultures alike. Basically, towards the end of the "winter" cycle (that in which you are eating up your stores), you begin to run low on food. This works out OK as you also stop hibernating and need to shed winter pounds to begin anew when "first-fruits" is celebrated, and the planting begins.
The ancient Jewish Sages in Babylon decreed that each spring, in conjunction with Passover, all people were to fast from what is essentially carbohydrates. No leavened bread of any kind. Jewish housewives for centuries have cleaned their cupboards of even any crumbs in the days leading up to Passover. (Practically, this helps keep pests down as well, all ties into spring cleaning).
Ascetic Jews at the time of Jesus would fast to mourn loss and for repentance of sins (like at Yom Kippur). It became a Byzantine tradition in the days after Constantine to fast from Oil, Eggs, Meat, Dairy, and Wine for the 40 days leading up to Pascha (the last supper). Essentially, Orthodox and eastern Rite catholics the world over eat strictly vegan during the lenton season. The Orthodox Easter season follows the Jewish Calendar so you might notice it is later this year than the American easter Sunday.
The Holy Roman Empire (Western Roman Catholics) Follow the older Gothic and Druidic calendar. Holy Roman Decree (the Code of Cannon law) requires ALL baptized catholics to fast on every Friday, all year round. The American Bishops decided to offer dispensation for us and so we are only required to fast on lenton fridays.
Lenton Fasting is meant to do all of the above:
- Honor ancient rabbinic traditions
- Sacrifice something of yourself and suffer a little in remembrance of the Christ
- Help one to meditate and de-tox
- Stregnthen one's resolve over their daily vices
- and shed winter pounds
A note on Fish:
Fish became the first symbol of Christianity (not the cross as used today). Fish was code for christians looking to celebrate in rome when meeting for communion was punishable by death in the circus.
The greek word for fish is: Ikthus
The letters of the word were used to spell out
"Jesus Christos Theo Yios Sorti"
"Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior"
Modern Roman Catholics eat fish on fridays as a part of an ancient secret tradition that became an outward sign of their faithfulness, and fish fridays identify one as being Catholic.
I hope I haven;t bored you. i was happy to see you blog as I have been Following the Orthodox fast for the first time this year and have many questions and thoughts as you do.
Ash services begin at 9:00am in most places (good for you for next year)
The ashes we bless and wear are the charred remains of last year's palms that we carry into Mass on Palm Sunday. After they are blessed, we save these in our homes all year, and return them to the church to be burned for Ash Wednesday.
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