They are simply offered as an opportunity for you.

No! Any compulsion to receive the ashes would be contrary to the freedom we have in the Gospel. The blessings we receive are through God's means of grace, His Word and Sacraments.Ī. The ashes are simply a physical symbol to aid in your meditation. While we pray a prayer of blessing that the use of these ashes would be of benefit to us, they contain no special power in and of themselves. Are the ashes 'blessed?' Do they give a special blessing?Ī. But so that we use this practice in a proper way and in accordance with the Gospel, some commonly asked questions need to be answered here: The renaissance of Luther studies in the last century has again reminded us of this fact, and so many customs that fell into disuse (as long as they are not contrary to the Gospel!) have been re-introduced into the Lutheran Church, the imposition of ashes being one of these practices. Luther however, kept everything he could, not throwing out but cleansing and reforming so that everything in the Church would be in accordance with the Gospel. The attitude that 'if it's Catholic we shouldn't do it' was never the attitude of Martin Luther, but actually of the radical reformers, who wanted to throw out everything associated with the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, this rich symbol disappeared in the life of the Lutheran Church for some time because of the thinking that it was 'too Catholic.' However, this attitude betrays a misunderstanding of the Reformation.

Liturgy for imposition of ashes