Ash Wednesday’s new look doesn’t keep the faithful away

The pandemic may have put a new look on Ash Wednesday this year, but it didn’t discourage Catholics from starting the season of Lent with the traditional receiving of ashes.

Due to current bans on public worship, distribution of ashes took place outside of the liturgy, in walk-through or drive-through lines outside church buildings or in open lobby areas. Some parishes saw drive-through lines so long that vehicles were backed up onto nearby streets as volunteers directed traffic. One parish, St. Matthew’s in Surrey, reported police arriving on site to discern the cause of the traffic jam.

Rather than receiving the ashes in the shape of a cross on their foreheads, as per local custom, many of the faithful had ashes sprinkled on their heads.

The changes were made to minimize any risk of spreading COVID-19 on Ash Wednesday and to follow guidance from the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

Another change this Ash Wednesday, and one that’s here to stay, is a change to the Collect, the short opening prayer said by the priest just before the first reading.

A directive from the Vatican and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops changes the conclusion of the Collect from “one God, forever and ever,” to “God, forever and ever,” omitting the word “one.”