The Ash Wednesday Phenomenon, by Phil Lawler

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture, Feb 14, 2024

Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org.

The chapel was packed this morning. It always is, on Ash Wednesday. Every Catholic church can expect unusually large congregations today. This is the one day of the year—apart from Christmas Day—when a clever pastor might schedule a collection at a weekday Mass.

American Catholics—even ordinarily inactive Catholics—flock to their churches (on Ash Wednesday) today to receive their ashes, to display them proudly. Already today (I am writing at 9 am) a half-dozen people I don’t know have sent me selfies, showing how they look with ashes on their foreheads.

When I worked in downtown Boston, I would go to Mass at the “workers’ chapel” on Arch Street, where on Ash Wednesday a steady stream of people would flow in, all day long, to receive their ashes from the friars who worked in relays to satisfy the demand. Only a few of those people would stay for Mass; most would march in to the chapel, receive their ashes, and march back out. No doubt some of those people were pious practicing Catholics who happened to be pressed for time. But many, I’m sure, were entering a Catholic church for the first time in months. …