Ashes to Ashes

          One Ash Wednesday a young boy accompanied his father to church for the disposition of the ashes.  As the priest began the service he intoned a prayer of contrition with the words, "Most merciful Father, we confess this day that we are but dust..."
          The son looked up at his father and asked in a stage whisper loud enough for all those around him to hear his question, "Daddy, what is butt dust?"
          For all practical purposes the service at that point was over. 

 

          Yesterday I asked the question why the observances of Easter and Ash Wednesday do not fall on the same calendar dates each year and how are those dates determined.  To some this is a "mysterium tremendum" as to the seemingly random dates in the Spring for these two events.  The answer lies in the Hebrew calendar that was in place when those religious holidays are originated.  The early Jewish community based their 12 month calendar on the phases of the moon which makes a full rotation around the sun every 29.5 days.  Every month began with the observation of the new moon.  It was not until the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1582 that the year was based on the earth's rotation around the sun, every 365.25 days.  The discrepancy between the lunar and solar calendar annually is 11 days. 

          To prevent the Hebrew calendar from slipping too far behind occasionally extra days were added so that Passover would remain in the Spring and not end up being a Fall holy day.  The corrections were based on a 19 year cycle resulting in 6 possible year lengths.  The Jews operated under two calendars: one for their religious observances and another (the Julian calendar) for civil occasions, like the paying of taxes to the Roman government. 

          Under the Hebrew calendar which functions in concert with the phases of the moon Easter continues to be calculated as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox.  Lent is calculated as the 40 days prior, excluding Sundays.  Ash Wednesday is then the 46th day before Easter and signifies the beginning of Lent.