~Art by Peter Yuichi Clark

A Service of Ashes
by Katie Cook

service begins in silence

Prologue
participants will read the following silently

As we enter into this service of ashes,
we should think about these things:

• that we are admitting our mortality,
  which reminds us how vulnerable we are,
  and how dependent on God
• that our renewal of promises to God happens
  internally and is not just an outward
  show of piety
• that our Lenten journey is to free us to use
  our lives and our possessions
  in ministry to others
• that we will spend these weeks examining
  our lives and our relationship to God
• that we offer all our suffering to God,
  and ask that it be transformed into resurrection

Invocation
Almighty and everlasting God, we know that you love everything you have made, and that you readily forgive our transgressions. God of mercy, create in our spirits a newness, that we, admitting our mortality and our tendency to falter, may be assured of your unconditional love. Through Jesus Christ, for whom we live. Amen.

The Imposing of Ashes
LEADER: Dear people of God, the first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time for reflection, confession, and a restoration of fellowship within the church. It became a time for all Christians to renew their covenant with God, and to strengthen their faith.

I invite you therefore, in the name of the universal Body of Christ, to the observance of a holy Lent, to self-examination, prayer, fasting, and self-denial; to reading and meditating on God's word. And now, to make an appropriate beginning of Lent and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.

(Participants kneel in a circle)

LEADER: Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth; Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our dependence on you, that we may remember that by your gracious love we are given everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, who became dust like us. Amen.

We are created from dust, and to dust our bodies will return. We all suffer, and we all make mistakes.

(each participant takes ashes and makes the mark of a cross on the forehead of the person to his or her left, saying the following words:)

By the wearing of these ashes, we offer our suffering and brokenness to God.

Scripture Reading
Psalm 51

Litany of Penitence
(participants kneel)

LEADER: Most holy and merciful Creator;
We confess to you and to one another, and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth, that we have made mistakes and acted selfishly, in thought, word, and deed; by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as you have forgiven us.

ALL: God, have mercy on us.

LEADER: We have been deaf to your call to serve others as Christ served us. We have not been true to the teachings of Christ. We have grieved the Holy Spirit.

ALL: Christ, have mercy on us.

LEADER: We confess to you, God, all our past unfaithfulness, and the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience in our hearts;

ALL: We confess all these things to you.

LEADER: Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people;

ALL: We confess all these things to you.

LEADER: Our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those seemingly more fortunate than ourselves;

ALL: We confess all these things to you.

LEADER: Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and work;

ALL: We confess all these things to you.

LEADER: Our negligence of prayer and worship, and our failure to take seriously the faith that is in us;

ALL: We confess all these things to you.

LEADER: Accept our repentance, God, for the wrongs we have done; for our blindness to human need and suffering and our indifference to injustice and cruelty;

ALL: Accept our repentance, God.

LEADER: For all false judgement, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us;

ALL: Accept our repentance, God.

LEADER: For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us;

ALL: Accept our repentance, God.

LEADER: Restore us to full communion with you, and let your anger depart from us;

ALL: Hear our prayer, God.

LEADER: Continue in us the work of your salvation,

ALL: That we may show your love and truth to the world.

LEADER: By the suffering of your Son our God and brother;

ALL: Bring us through these weeks to the joy of resurrection.

Prayer
Almighty God, Maker of heaven and earth, we know that you want to be in communion with all of us, for you have told us so. We often turn away from you, and create a chasm between ourselves and you, and between ourselves and other people. Our inner selves are fragmented. We know that you will meet us more than halfway, if we open our hearts to your love. Teach us how. Make our hearts clean and ready for your love, that we may never be cut off from you again. Through Jesus Christ who gave his life in love, Amen.

Passing of Peace and Removal of Ashes
(Participants now pass the peace of Christ to each other in a circle, and in doing so remove the ashes of the person to each one's right. This is a sign that God's love and grace are more powerful than our mortal mistakes, and that this love can heal our brokenness.)

~The above is adapted from the Anglican liturgy.