ILOILO City – Roman Catholic churches in this city and the provinces of Iloilo and Guimaras under the Archdiocese of Jaro are all set for Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the 40-day Lenten season.
The traditional practice of daubing ashes on the forehead will resume, according to Reverend Father Angelo Colada, director of the Archdiocese of Jaro’s Social Communication Office.
In 2020, 2021 and 2022 at the height of the coronavirus disease pandemic, churches skipped the tactile practice and instead sprinkled the blessed ashes on the head.
“Before, ginburibod lang ini sa ulo tungod may distancing kita nga ginatawag. Pero subong daw wala naman pero ang pagburibod will remain an option sa gihapon,” said Colada.
What does Ash Wednesday mean?
Ash Wednesday comes from the ancient Jewish tradition of penance and fasting. The practice includes the wearing of ashes on the head.
The ashes symbolize the dust from which God made man. As the priest applies the ashes to a person’s forehead, he speaks the words: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Meanwhile, fasting covers ages 18 to 59 years old Abstinence, on the other hand, are for ages 14 years old and above.
Fasting is the reduction of one’s intake of food while abstinence refers to refraining from eating pork.
“May ara kita ginatawag nga fasting kag abstinence. Twice a year naga-fasting and abstinence kita, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Tinguhaan naton nga tumanon ini,” said Colada.
All Fridays of the Lenten season are days of abstinence.
Exempt from observing abstinence and fasting are senior citizens, the sick and those doing heavy manual labor.
Colada also reminded devotees not to leave a mass unfinished after having the ashes daubed on their foreheads.
“Sometimes ang badlis between sang mass or after sang homily. But sometimes kon makatapos sila (devotees) sang badlis nagalinakat na kag pauli, so tapuson ang misa,” he said.
Masses at the Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral tomorrow, Feb. 22, will accommodate devotees who wanted to have the consecrated ashes daubed on their foreheads.
Here is the schedule of masses at the Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral, both on the main altar and at the St. John Paul II Hall (formerly the grotto) on Ash Wednesday:
Cathedral’s main altar
* 5:30 a.m.
* 6:30 a.m.
* 12:15 p.m.
* 5:30 p.m.
* 7:30 p.m.
Liturgy of the word at St. John Paul II Hall
* 9 a.m.
* 10 a.m.
* 3 p.m.
* 4 p.m.
* 5 p.m.
* 6 p.m.
* 7 p.m.
For other churches, parish priests were given the discretion to schedule their masses taking into consideration the surge in devotees./PN
