The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1907-04-05
ASH WEDNESDAY,.
Some Old Time Customs of the Day
and What They Meant.


and What They Meant.
With the exception of Good Friday
there is no more solemn day in the
church year than Ash Wednesday. Ev-
erybody understands that it is the first
day of Lent, but that it has not al
ways been included in Lent doubtless
is a fact little known.
In the fifth and sixth centuries Lent
began with the succeeding Sunday and
continued for six weeks, which, with
the omission of Sundays, would be
thirty-six days. At what time Ash
Wednesday and the three following
days were added to the fast is not
! precisely known, but it was before
| ia, as we have records of Lent kept
at that date in precisely the same way
as it is kept now.
Ash Wednesday got its name from
the fact that on that day each year
people received at church, ashes that
were put on their fOreheads by the
priest Making the sign OF the cross
with the ashes, the priest would say
in Latin, Remember, man, thou art
but dust. and unto dust thou shalt re-
turn" This ceremony commentaries
Gods curse of Adam after the fall.
Originally the administration of the
ashes was only for public penitents.
These appeared barefooted and in some
rough garb before the church door.
There their pcnances were imposed
on them. Then, upon admission into
the church, they were brought before
the bishop, who put ashes on their
heads, and to the words already quot
ed added, "DO penance, that thou may
est have eternal life"
Soon, however, human nature assert
ed itself, and people would not allow
their friends and relatives to go unac-
companied as penitents to the church;
so, expressing similar contrftlon by
dress and receiving ashes on their
heads, they went with them. When
the number of these charitable people
increased, the rite was extended to the
whole congregation.
The ashes used were obtained from
the burning of the palms in the church
es on the previous Palm Sunday. Soon
after the reformation the English
church abandoned the use of ashes.
Ashes in the old dispensation were
used as a sign Of mourning and peni-
tence. Sackcloth and ashes formed q
common combination. The Jews con-
stantly used these as symbols of grief
and desolation.
In rural France the peasantry on Ash
Wednesday used to carry around an
10 Ho
of good cheer and collected money for
its funeral, inasmuch as this day was
the burial of good living After several
mummeries the effigy was deposited in
the earth.
The burial of the sardine is a Span
ish custom. A small paper covered cof-
fin containing small fish or a morsel
of sausage is carried in procession as
a symbol of the burial of all worldly
pleasures during Lent. At Madrid Il
vast throng turns out to witness the
burial of the sardine in the banks of
the Manzanares
The Jack-o'-Lent is a scarecrow-like
effigy used as a symbol of Lent and
carried around in professions. The
idea of fasting and abstinence never
has been popular; consequently the
Jack-o'-Lent usually becomes a target
for sticks and stones
In England arose a curious custom
An officer known as the kings cock
Grower crowed the hour every night
within the precincts of the palace dur
Ing Lent instead of leaving it to the
Waterman to proclaim the time. On
the first Ash Wednesday after the
succession, just as the
Prince Of Wales subsequently George
H. sat down to supper, this officer
made his appearance and emitted ten
shrill crows. But this did not happen
again. The court decided it could do
without any further imitation of Pc
ter's cock to remind it Of its errors
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