The Congregation for Divine Worship launches a note outlining the procedures that priests around the world must follow to distribute the ashes at the beginning of Lent.
The Vatican News
The health situation caused by Covid-19 continues to force changes in daily life, which is also reflected in the Church.
Before the start of Lent on Wednesday, February 17, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued a note detailing how Catholic priests should distribute the ashes.
Instructions
After blessing the ashes and sprinkling them with holy water in silence, the priest addresses those present, reciting once the formula found in the Roman Message: “Repent and believe in the gospel” or “Remember that you are dust and to it makes you dust it will come back ”.
At that moment, the note continues, the priest “cleans his hands, puts on a face mask and distributes ashes to those who come to him or, if necessary, goes to those who sit in their places.”
Then they sprinkled the ashes on each person’s head “without saying anything.”