Editing Ash Wednesday (section)

===Ashes===
[[File: US Navy 060301-N-5686B-001 USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63), Chaplain, Lt. Matthias Rendon blesses ashes, during an Ash Wednesday service held on board Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka.jpg|thumb|A priest blesses ashes.]]
[[File:US Navy 080206-N-7869M-057 Electronics Technician 3rd Class Leila Tardieu receives the sacramental ashes during an Ash Wednesday celebration.jpg|thumb|A priest draws a cross of ashes on a worshipper's forehead, the prevailing form in [[English-speaking countries]].<ref name=McNamara/>]]Ashes are ceremonially placed on the heads of Christians on Ash Wednesday, either by being sprinkled over their heads or, in English-speaking countries, more often by being marked on their foreheads as a visible cross. The words (based on [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 3:19)<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|3:19|RSV}}</ref> used traditionally to accompany this gesture are, "''Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris.''" ("Remember, man, that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return.") This custom is credited to [[Pope Gregory I]] the Great (c.&nbsp;540–604),<ref name="Olsen">{{cite web|url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2008/august/beginning-of-lent.html|title=The Beginning of Lent|date=8 August 2008|last=Olsen|first=Ted|work=[[Christianity Today]]|access-date=14 February 2018}}</ref> although this is probably incorrect since Ash Wednesday was not part of Lent in his time.<ref>[https://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2022/03/05/did-pope-gregory-the-great-add-four-days-to-lent/ Did Pope Gregory the Great Add Four Days to Lent?] - Roger Pearse, 5 March 2022.</ref>

In the [[Mass of Paul VI|1969 missal]] of the [[Roman Rite]], an alternative formula (based on [[Mark 1]]:15)<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|1:15|RSV}}</ref> was introduced and given first place "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" and the older formula was translated as "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." The old formula, based on the words spoken to [[Adam and Eve]] after [[Fall of man|their sin]],<ref>The biblical text does not have the words "remember that", nor the vocative noun "''homo''" (human being) that is included in the pre-1970 [[Latin]] version of the formula.</ref> reminds worshippers of their sinfulness and mortality and thus, implicitly, of their need to repent in time.<ref name=Bucher>[http://www.orlutheran.com/html/ash.html Richard P. Bucher, "The History and Meaning of Ash Wednesday"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413044542/http://www.orlutheran.com/html/ash.html |date=13 April 2014 }}</ref>

Various manners of placing the ashes on worshippers' heads are in use within the Latin Church, the two most common being to use the ashes to make a cross on the forehead and sprinkle the ashes over the crown of the head. Originally, the ashes were strewn over men's heads, but, probably because [[Head covering for Christian women|women had their heads covered in church]] (based on [[First Epistle to the Corinthians|1 Corinthians 11]]),<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|11|RSV}}</ref> were placed on the foreheads of women.<ref>{{cite web|last1=McNamara|first1=Edward|title=Ashes and How to Impose Them|date=17 February 2015|url=http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/ashes-and-how-to-impose-them|publisher=Zemit News Agency|access-date=17 February 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217180945/http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/ashes-and-how-to-impose-them|archive-date=17 February 2015}}</ref> In the Catholic Church the manner of imposing ashes depends largely on local custom since no fixed rule has been laid down.<ref name=McNamara/> In the [[Lutheranism|Lutheran Churches]], ashes are normatively placed on the forehead in the shape of a cross.<ref>{{cite web |title=Worship and Congregational Life |url=https://www.lcms.org/about/beliefs/faqs/worship-and-congregational-life |publisher=[[Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod]] |access-date=12 February 2025 |language=en-us}}</ref> 

Although the account of [[Ælfric of Eynsham]] shows that in about the year 1000 the ashes were "strewn" on the head,<ref name=strew/> the marking of the forehead is the method that now prevails in English-speaking countries and is the only one envisaged in the ''Occasional Offices'' of the [[Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea]], a publication described as "noticeably Anglo-Catholic in character".<ref name=blessing/> In its ritual of "Blessing of Ashes", this states that "the ashes are blessed at the beginning of the Eucharist. After they have been blessed they are placed on the forehead of the clergy and people."<ref name=blessing>{{cite web|url=http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/PNG/special_days.html#ash_wednesday|title=Ash Wednesday Blessing of Ashes|work=Occasional Office|publisher=Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea|access-date=2 April 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227115750/http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/PNG/special_days.html#ash_wednesday|archive-date=27 December 2017}}</ref>
[[File:Đức Hồng Y Jozef Tomko, nguyên Tổng trưởng Bộ truyền giáo, có nhà thờ hiệu tòa là Đền thờ thánh nữ Sabina đã xức tro trên đầu Đức Giáo Hoàng.png|thumb|Pope Francis receiving Ash Wednesday ashes by sprinkling, a common method in Europe.]]
The Ash Wednesday ritual of the [[Church of England]], Mother Church of the [[Anglican Communion]], contains "The Imposition of Ashes" in its Ash Wednesday liturgy.<ref name=CofE>[http://www.churchofengland.org/media/41155/tslent.pdf Church of England, ''Lent Material''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140629040053/http://www.churchofengland.org/media/41155/tslent.pdf |date=29 June 2014 }}, p. 230</ref> On Ash Wednesday, the [[Pope]], the [[Bishop of Rome]], traditionally takes part in a [[penitential procession]] from the [[Church of Sant'Anselmo all'Aventino, Rome|Church of Saint Anselm]] to the Basilica of [[Santa Sabina]], where, by the custom in Italy and many other countries, ashes are sprinkled on his head, not smudged on his forehead, and he places ashes on the heads of others in the same way.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.op.org/en/content/ash-wednesday-pope-francis-celebrates-santa-sabina|title=Ash Wednesday: Pope Francis Celebrates at Santa Sabina|work=Order of preachers|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413125837/http://www.op.org/en/content/ash-wednesday-pope-francis-celebrates-santa-sabina|archive-date=13 April 2014}}</ref>

The Anglican ritual, used in Papua New Guinea states that, after the blessing of the ashes, "the priest marks his forehead and then the foreheads of the [[acolyte|servers]] and congregation who come and kneel, or stand, where they normally receive the Blessed Sacrament."<ref name=blessing/> The corresponding Catholic ritual in the [[Roman Missal]] for celebration within [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] merely states: "Then the Priest places ashes on the head of those present who come to him, and says to each one ..."<ref name=RM/> Pre-1970 editions had much more elaborate instructions about the order in which the participants were to receive the ashes, but again without any indication of the form of placing the ashes on the head.<ref name=TRM>Tridentine Roman Missal, "Feria IV Cinerum"</ref>

The 1969 revision of the Roman Rite inserted into the Mass the solemn ceremony of blessing ashes and placing them on heads, but also explicitly envisaged a similar solemn ceremony outside of Mass.<ref name=RM>Roman Missal, Ash Wednesday</ref> The Book of Blessings contains a simple rite.<ref name=McNamara/> While the solemn rite would normally be carried out within a church building, the simple rite could appropriately be used almost anywhere. While only a priest or deacon may bless the ashes, laypeople may do the placing of the ashes on a person's head. Even in the solemn rite, laymen or women may assist the priest in distributing the ashes. In addition, laypeople take blessed ashes left over after the collective ceremony and place them on the heads of the sick or of others who are unable to attend the blessing.<ref name=McNamara>{{cite web|url=http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/laypeople-distributing-ashes|title=Laypeople Distributing Ashes|author=Zenit Staff|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407080540/http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/laypeople-distributing-ashes|archive-date=7 April 2014}}</ref><ref name=CUF/> (In 2014, Anglican [[Liverpool Cathedral]] likewise offered to impose ashes within the church without a solemn ceremony.)<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.liverpoolcathedral.org.uk/404/section.aspx/403/ashes_to_go_this_ash_wednesday_|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407060331/http://www.liverpoolcathedral.org.uk/404/section.aspx/403/ashes_to_go_this_ash_wednesday_|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 April 2014|title=Cathedral offers visitors 'Ashes to Go' this Ash Wednesday|date=27 February 2014|publisher=[[Liverpool Cathedral]] (Anglican)|access-date=2 April 2014}}</ref>

In addition, those who attend such Catholic services, whether in a church or elsewhere, traditionally take blessed ashes home with them to place on the heads of other members of the family,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://goireland.about.com/od/easter-and-lent/fl/Ash-Wednesday-in-Ireland.htm|title=Ash Wednesday in Ireland: End of the Good Times, Start of Lent|author=Bernd Biege|work=About.com Travel|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407071110/http://goireland.about.com/od/easter-and-lent/fl/Ash-Wednesday-in-Ireland.htm|archive-date=7 April 2014}}</ref> and it is recommended to have envelopes available to facilitate this practice.<ref name=K&L/> At home the ashes are then placed with little or no ceremony.

Unlike its discipline regarding [[Sacraments of the Catholic Church|sacraments]], the Catholic Church does not exclude anyone from receiving [[sacramentals]], such as the placing of ashes on the head, even those who are not Catholics and perhaps not even baptized.<ref name=CUF>{{cite web |work=Catholics United for the Faith |title=Responses to frequently asked questions regarding Lenten practices |url=http://www.cuf.org/2013/02/are-you-ready-for-lent/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407075816/http://www.cuf.org/2013/02/are-you-ready-for-lent/ |archive-date=7 April 2014 }}</ref> Even those who have been [[excommunication|excommunicated]] and are therefore forbidden to ''celebrate'' sacramentals are not forbidden to ''receive'' them.<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4X.HTM Code of Canon Law, canon 1331 §1 2°] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080329021837/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4X.HTM |date=29 March 2008 }}</ref> After describing the blessing, the rite of Blessing and Distribution of Ashes (within Mass) states: "Then the Priest places ashes on the heads of all those present who come to him."<ref name=RM/> The Catholic Church does not limit the distribution of blessed ashes to church buildings and has suggested the holding of celebrations in shopping centers, nursing homes, and factories.<ref name=K&L>Website of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin]]. {{Cite web |url=http://www.kandle.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Ash_Wednesday.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=4 April 2014 |archive-date=7 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407083452/http://www.kandle.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Ash_Wednesday.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Such celebrations presume preparation of an appropriate area and include readings from Scripture (at least one) and prayers, and are somewhat shorter if the ashes are already blessed.<ref>[http://www.dioceseofgrandrapids.org/Documents/Worship_Ash_Wed_Service_Leader_Guide.pdf Order for the Blessing and Distribution of Ashes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407074831/http://www.dioceseofgrandrapids.org/Documents/Worship_Ash_Wed_Service_Leader_Guide.pdf |date=7 April 2014 }}</ref>

The Catholic Church and the Methodist Church say that the ashes should be those of palm branches blessed at the previous year's [[Palm Sunday]] service,<ref name=RM/><ref>{{cite web |title=Why ashes on Ash Wednesday? |url=http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/why-ashes-on-ash-wednesday |website=The United Methodist Church |publisher=[[The United Methodist Church]] |access-date=7 March 2019 |language=en |quote=It is traditional to save the palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday service to burn to produce ashes for this service.}}</ref> while a Church of England publication says they "may be made" from the burnt palm crosses of the previous year.<ref name=blessing/><ref name=CofE/> These sources do not speak of adding anything to the ashes other than, for the Catholic liturgy, a sprinkling with holy water when blessing them. An Anglican website speaks of mixing the ashes with a small amount of holy water or [[olive oil]] as a fixative.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lent and Easter |work=The Diocese of London |date=17 March 2004 |url=http://www.london.anglican.org/NewsShow_2653 |quote=Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent, the period of forty days before Easter. It is so called because of the Church's tradition of making the sign of the cross on people's foreheads, as a sign of penitence and of Christian witness. The ash is made by burning palm crosses from the previous year and is usually mixed with a little holy water or oil. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060924101022/http://www.london.anglican.org/NewsShow_2653 |archive-date=24 September 2006 }}</ref>

Where ashes are placed on the head by smudging the forehead with a sign of the cross, many Christians choose to keep the mark visible throughout the day. The churches have not imposed this as an obligatory rule, and the ashes may even be wiped off immediately after receiving them;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://catholicism.about.com/od/lent/f/Should-Catholics-Keep-Their-Ashes-On-All-Day-On-Ash-Wednesday.htm|title=Should Catholics Keep Their Ashes on All Ash Wednesday?|author=Scott P. Richert|work=About.com Religion & Spirituality|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140412224055/http://catholicism.about.com/od/lent/f/Should-Catholics-Keep-Their-Ashes-On-All-Day-On-Ash-Wednesday.htm|archive-date=12 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/9-things-to-know-and-share-about-ash-wednesday|title=9 things to know and share about Ash Wednesday|last=Akin|first=Jimmy|date=4 March 2014 |publisher=National Catholic Register|access-date=2 April 2014|quote=There is no rule about this. It is a matter of personal decision based on the individual's inclinations and circumstances.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311003452/http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/9-things-to-know-and-share-about-ash-wednesday|archive-date=11 March 2014}}</ref> but some Christian leaders, such as Lutheran pastor Richard P. Bucher and Catholic bishop Kieran Conry, recommend keeping the ashes on the forehead for the rest of the day as a public profession of the Christian faith.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.orlutheran.com/html/ash.html|title=The History and Meaning of Ash Wednesday|last=Bucher|first=Richard P.|publisher=[[Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod]]|access-date=2 April 2014|quote=Many Christians choose to leave the ashes on their forehead for the remainder of the day, not to be showy and boastful (see Matthew 6:16–18). Rather, they do it as a witness that all people are sinners in need of repentance AND that through Jesus all sins are forgiven through faith.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413044542/http://www.orlutheran.com/html/ash.html|archive-date=13 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2011/03/03/dont-rub-off-your-ashes-urges-bishop/|title=Don't rub off your ashes, urges bishop|last=Arco|first=Anna|date=3 March 2011|work=[[The Catholic Herald]]|publisher=Catholic Herald|quote=Catholics should try not to rub their ashes off after Ash Wednesday Mass, an English bishop has said. Bishop Kieran Conry of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton|Arundel and Brighton]], who heads the department of evangelization and catechesis, urged Catholics across Britain to wear "the outward sign of our inward sorrow for our sins and our commitment to Jesus as Our Lord and Savior". He said: "The wearing of the ashes provides us with a wonderful opportunity to share with people how important our faith is to us and to point them to the cross of Christ. I invite you where possible to attend a morning or lunchtime Mass.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311174617/http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2011/03/03/dont-rub-off-your-ashes-urges-bishop/|archive-date=11 March 2014}}</ref> Morgan Guyton, a Methodist pastor, and leader in the [[Red-Letter Christian]] movement, encourages Christians to wear their ashed cross throughout the day as an exercise of [[freedom of religion|religious freedom]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.redletterchristians.org/like-religious-freedom-wear-ashes-on-wednesday/|title=Like Religious Freedom? Wear Ashes on Wednesday!|last=Guyton|first=Morgan|date=21 February 2012|publisher=Red Letter Christians|quote=I strongly believe that wearing ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday is the best way to 1) assert our religious freedom as citizens and 2) remember that our call as Christians is to be witnesses first and foremost.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212035343/http://www.redletterchristians.org/like-religious-freedom-wear-ashes-on-wednesday/|archive-date=12 February 2015}}</ref>

====Ashes to Go====
[[File: Ashes to Go at Mizner Park.jpg|thumb|Two [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] priests distribute ashes to passersby in the American city of [[Boca Raton, Florida|Boca Raton]] as part of the Ashes to Go movement.]]
Since 2007, some members of major Christian Churches in the [[United States]], including Anglicans, Lutherans, United Church of Christ, and Methodists, have participated in 'Ashes to Go' activities, in which clergy go outside of their [[church (building)|churches]] to public places, such as [[downtown|city centres]], [[sidewalk]]s and [[railroad station]]s, to distribute ashes to passers-by,<ref name="CatholicHerald2016"/><ref name="Grossman">{{cite web|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2012-02-21/lent-ash-wednesday-ashes-to-go/53195664/1|title=Episcopal priests offer 'Ashes to Go' as Ash Wednesday begins Lent|last=Grossman|first=Cathy Lynn|publisher=[[USA Today]]|access-date=2 April 2014|quote=Dubbed Ashes to Go, it's a contemporary spin on the Ash Wednesday practice followed chiefly in Episcopal, Anglican, Catholic and Lutheran denominations.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.religionnews.com/2014/03/05/photo-slideshow-ashes-go-meets-commuters-washington-d-c/|title='Ashes to Go' meets commuters in Washington, D.C.|last=Banks|first=Adelle M.|date=5 March 2014|quote=Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, leader of the [[Episcopal Diocese of Washington]], and members of [[Church of St. Paul's, K Street (Washington, D.C.)|St. Paul's Parish]] in Washington, D.C., imposed ashes on commuters and other passers-by on Ash Wednesday (5 March) near the Foggy Bottom Metro station in the nation's capital.|publisher=Religion News Service|access-date=2 April 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407060853/http://www.religionnews.com/2014/03/05/photo-slideshow-ashes-go-meets-commuters-washington-d-c/|archive-date=7 April 2014}}</ref> even to people waiting in their cars for a stoplight to change.<ref name="The United Methodist Church">{{cite web|url=http://rethinkchurch.org/article/got-ashes-chicago-church-takes-lent-streets|title=Got ashes? Chicago church takes Lent to the streets|date=27 April 2011|publisher=The United Methodist Church|access-date=2 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229083630/http://rethinkchurch.org/article/got-ashes-chicago-church-takes-lent-streets |archive-date=29 February 2012}}</ref> The Anglican priest Emily Mellott of Calvary Church in [[Lombard, Illinois|Lombard]] took up the idea and turned it into a movement, stated that the practice was also an act of [[evangelism]].<ref name=AshesToGo>{{cite web|url=http://ashestogo.org/about/|title=About Ashes to Go|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407095557/http://ashestogo.org/about/|archive-date=7 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2012-02-21/lent-ash-wednesday-ashes-to-go/53195664/1|title=Episcopal priests offer 'Ashes to Go' as Ash Wednesday begins Lent|last=Grossman|first=Cathy Lynn|publisher=[[USA Today]]|access-date=2 April 2014|quote=Anyone can accept the ashes although, Mellott says, non-Christians tend not to seek them. Still, she says, "If anyone does, we view it as an act of evangelism, and we make it clear this is a part of the Christian tradition."}}</ref>

Anglicans and Catholics in parts of the [[United Kingdom]] such as [[Sunderland, Tyne and Wear|Sunderland]], are offering Ashes to Go together: Marc Lyden-Smith, the priest of [[St Mary's Church, Sunderland|Saint Mary's Church]], stated that the [[ecumenical]] effort is a "tremendous witness in our city, with Catholics and Anglicans working together to start the season of Lent, perhaps reminding those who have [[fallen away]] from the Church, or have never been before, that the Christian faith is alive and active in Sunderland."<ref name="CatholicHerald2016">{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/02/04/catholics-and-anglicans-to-distribute-ashes-to-shoppers-in-sunderland-city-centre/|title=Catholics and Anglicans to distribute ashes to shoppers in Sunderland city centre|date=4 February 2016|work=[[The Catholic Herald]]|language=en|quote=On Wednesday St Mary's Catholic church and Sunderland Minster, an Anglican church, will be working together to offer "Ashes to Go"{{snd}}a new approach to a centuries-old Christian tradition.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205070901/http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/02/04/catholics-and-anglicans-to-distribute-ashes-to-shoppers-in-sunderland-city-centre/|archive-date=5 February 2016}}</ref> The Catholic Student Association of [[Kent State University]], based at the University Parish Newman Center, offered ashes to university students who were going through the Student Center of that institution in 2012,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kentwired.com/latest_updates/article_b2e8b91e-ef8a-523a-aac4-1c2623cb6497.html|title=Students make time to get ashes|date=23 February 2012|work=TV2|publisher=Kent Wired|author=Anthony Ezzo|access-date=2 April 2014|archive-date=14 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214120423/http://www.kentwired.com/latest_updates/article_b2e8b91e-ef8a-523a-aac4-1c2623cb6497.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and Douglas Clark of St. Matthew's Roman Catholic Church in [[Statesboro, Georgia|Statesboro]], among others, have participated in Ashes to Go.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/1/article/57542/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140403001330/http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/1/article/57542/|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 April 2014|title=A modern way to begin the Lenten season|last=Brandon|first=Loretta|work=Statesboro Herald|access-date=3 April 2014|quote=Ministers participating in Ashes to Go include the Rev. Dan Lewis from First Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Joan Kilian from Trinity Episcopal Church, the Rev. Bill Bagwell and the Rev. Jonathan Smith from Pittman Park United Methodist Church, the Rev. Douglas Clark of St. Matthew's Roman Catholic Church, and the Rev. James Byrd, from St. Andrew's Chapel Church.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kfbk.com/articles/kfbk-news-461777/catholics-who-cant-make-it-to-12127827/|title=Catholics Who Can't Make it to Church can Get 'Ashes to Go'|date=5 March 2014|publisher=KFBK News and Radio|access-date=2 April 2014|quote=Some Catholics who couldn't make it to church this morning got their "Ashes on the Go." Father Tony Prandini with Good Shepherd Catholic Parish was conducting Ash Wednesday rituals{{snd}}marking foreheads{{snd}}outside of the State Capitol.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407065144/http://www.kfbk.com/articles/kfbk-news-461777/catholics-who-cant-make-it-to-12127827/|archive-date=7 April 2014}}</ref>

On Ash Wednesday 2017, Father Paddy Mooney, the priest of St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in the Irish town of [[Glenamaddy]], set up an Ashes to Go station through which commuters could drive and receive ashes from their car; the parish church also had "drive-through prayers during Lent with people submitting requests into a box left in the church grounds without having to leave their car".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.christiantoday.com/article/ashestogo.at.start.of.lent.as.clergy.offer.commuters.ash.n.dash/105145.htm|title=#AshesToGo at Start of Lent As Clergy Offer Commuters 'Ash n' Dash'|last=Farley|first=Harry|date=1 March 2017|publisher=[[Christian Today]]|language=en|quote=Commuters can drive in the gate of St Patrick's Church, in Glenmady, receive ashes from their car and drive out the other side. 'We looked at the situation on the ground. People and families are on the move all the time,' parish priest Father Paddy Mooney told the Irish Catholic. 'It's about meeting people where they are.' The same church will also offer drive-through prayers during Lent with people submitting requests into a box left on the church grounds without having to leave their car.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301131053/http://www.christiantoday.com/article/ashestogo.at.start.of.lent.as.clergy.offer.commuters.ash.n.dash/105145.htm|archive-date=1 March 2017}}</ref> Reverend Trey Hall, pastor of Urban Village United Methodist Church, stated that when his local church offered ashes in Chicago "nearly 300 people received ashes{{snd}}including two people who were waiting in their car for a stoplight to change."<ref name="The United Methodist Church"/>

In 2013, churches not only in the United States but also at least one church each in the United Kingdom, Canada, and South Africa, participated in Ashes to Go.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/what-ashes-go-where-get-atg-new-york-1559432|title=What Is 'Ashes To Go'? Where To Get 'ATG' In New York|date=4 March 2014|work=[[International Business Times]]|access-date=2 April 2014|quote=In 2012, that initiative, "Ashes to Go," caught on nationally, and a year later the idea went international, with churches in the United Kingdom, Canada and South Africa also practicing the easy penitence method.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407112607/http://www.ibtimes.com/what-ashes-go-where-get-atg-new-york-1559432|archive-date=7 April 2014}}</ref> Outside of their [[church building]], Saint Stephen Martyr Lutheran Church in [[Canton, Ohio|Canton]] offered Ashes to Go for "believers whose schedules make it difficult to attend a traditional service" in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/stark-county/jackson-township-church-offers-ashes-to-go/39104341|title=Jackson Township church offers 'Ashes to Go'|last=Coffey|first=Tim|date=10 February 2016|publisher=WKYC|language=en}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In the United States itself 34 states and the District of Columbia had at least one [[church building|church]] taking part. Most of these churches (parishes) were Episcopal, but there were also several Methodist churches, as well as Presbyterian and Catholic churches.<ref>{{cite web|archive-date=7 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407095738/http://ashestogo.org/join-in/where-to-find-ashes-to-go/|publisher=Ashes to Go|title=Where to find Ashes to Go This Year|url=http://ashestogo.org/join-in/where-to-find-ashes-to-go/|url-status=live}}</ref>