Yesterday (Tuesday before Ash Wednesday) on the local Catholic radio station there was a talk program with a woman host and a regular priest guest. On one topic the priest mentioned something about which I had never heard.

He said that if he were pastor of a church, in addition to a number of Ash Wednesday services, he would leave the ashes available for self-administration. There was no mention of documental permission for that practice, but the justification he gave was that the ashes are a sacramental (not a sacrament) and like holy water could be self-administered even by a layperson!

I would consider self-administration, even if legal(?), a poor substitute for normal administration (even by a lay minister).

[There was then some discussion between him and the host about the differences between men and women in the wearing of ashes with the consensus that a mirror would be needed for self-administration by women.]


Edward Pothier

Not sure, but one aspect is that the ashes are symbolic, not sacramental - perhaps regulations on self administration do not apply.

Father?

I'm not sure I can point to something that says, "Thou shalt not self-adminster ashes," but I'm afraid I rather think this falls into the category of things that should be so obvious as not to need an instruction.

Just so there is no mistake: I was against the idea from the time I heard the priest mention it on the radio.

However, I am not quite as sure it belongs in our usual understanding of "category of things that should be so obvious as not to need an instruction".

Edward Pothier

Not that I am for it either but, in the Book of Job - no one else administered the ashed to Job - it was his job.

I don't know about the OF but if you look at the prayers in the EF it's implied in a few places that the ashes are received rather than self-administered, FWIW.

On a similar topic, Drive through ashes!

http://www.wjfw.com/stories.html?sku=20110309125323

The deacon at the jail went around administering ashes to all the staff who wanted them.