Ash Wednesday Preparation

It is now Ash Wednesday and I have been preparing to lead the Ash Wednesday service at the Hospital.  I am excited to be leading the service.  I have assisted with Ash Wednesday services before, but this will be my first time leading one.  The service will be about 20 minutes, and then I will be sitting in the chapel for an hour after that so nurses can pop in and out as they are able to receive ashes.  Ash Wednesday has always been a special day for me, and I am curious to see how being and serving at the hospital today might be different.

Being a good J personality, I bought ashes last month to ensure we would have them.  I would like to actually burn and make my own ashes one year, but that will have to wait.  I mixed the ashes with some oil yesterday so the overnight chaplain would have them if anyone called for them early in the morning.  I printed out the prayer and words of imposition on a notecard.  I also put a couple wet papertowels in a sealed plastic bag, so impositioners would have a quick and easy way to clean thumbs between rooms and floors of the hospital.

I am curious to see how many staff, particularly the day shift nurses who work 7a-7p, will come to receive ashes since they will likely miss any church services.  I know the Catholic priests will be stopping by a couple times during the day to see their flocks.  Anyone who wants ashes in the hospital will be getting them, and I am glad to be the one organizing and making sure this happens.

The two other people in the department that have been raised in liturgical traditions are assisting me with the service.  Another member of the department said to me yesterday: "You know I don't know what you are talking about at all."  Holy Days like this are times when I am glad I am from a tradition that has the rites and rituals to strengthen and reinforce the Gospel messages and my own spiritual disciplines.

Have a Prayerful Ash Wednesday everyone!