# Do many people in your area get ashes on Ash Wednesday? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 9, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089 "2011-03-09T20:49:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![A.Gwilliam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@A.Gwilliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.Gwilliam)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/21 "2011-03-09T23:42:50Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > According to wiki I live in one of the two least religious states in the US, with only 23% of people of any religion attending weekly services, and when you figure that only a bit over a third of those who identify as Christian in NH are Caltholic… Good heavens, if that “only” figure is true, then it really does show the difference between the US and the UK! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/22 "2011-03-10T00:06:57Z")
I looked at the Wikipedia page so I gather you’re all talking about smeared ashes on the forehead. I’m in Phoenix and I’ve never seen or heard of this before. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/23 "2011-03-10T00:43:57Z")
> [@A.Gwilliam](#): > > Good heavens, if that “only” figure is true, then it really does show the difference between the US and the UK! :eek: About a quarter of the Christians in the US are Catholic. A third does seem kind of high, but I don’t know about demographics in New Hampshire. Okay, [wikipedia confirms it](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_hampshire#Religion). ---
**Author:** ![A.Gwilliam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@A.Gwilliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.Gwilliam)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/24 "2011-03-10T00:49:46Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > About a quarter of the Christians in the US are Catholic. A third does seem kind of high, but I don’t know about demographics in New Hampshire. Okay, [wikipedia confirms it](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_hampshire#Religion). Sorry, I didn’t mean that; I was referring to this: “only 23% of people of any religion attending weekly services” If weekly attendance was “only” 23% of the population, the churches over here would think it was like Christmas every single week! ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/25 "2011-03-10T00:59:12Z")
> [@A.Gwilliam](#): > > Sorry, I didn’t mean that; I was referring to this: > “only 23% of people of any religion attending weekly services” > > If weekly attendance was “only” 23% of the population, the churches over here would think it was like Christmas every single week! Oh, ha! Yeah, I only have a minute, but suffice to say that the religious differences in the US and Britain are very significant. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/26 "2011-03-10T01:03:56Z")
In England I’ve over ever seen it at my secondary school, which was RC and quite heavily Irish. Being an Anglican prot I was excused ( to the envy of quite a few catholic shool-fellows: no-one is as anti-catholic church as born & bred catholics ). But this year some middle-church Anglican friends mentioned their parish church was planning it for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/27 "2011-03-10T02:07:02Z")
I live in a Hispanic neighborhood which also has a lot of Polish people (Logan Square in Chicago) and usually I see a lot of people. But today I didn’t see anyone, which is a bit surprising ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/28 "2011-03-10T02:27:25Z")
Yes. Over half the people in this town in upstate NY are Catholic, and for some reason, everyone seems to go get their ashes mid-day. I went to school in the area, and classes would pretty much stop in the early afternoon on Ash Wednesday, because a good portion of the class would get pulled out to go to church. ---
**Author:** ![Jennmonkye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/278dde/32.png) [@Jennmonkye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennmonkye)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/29 "2011-03-10T04:46:54Z")
Lots of ashes here in Omaha which is heavily Catholic. Growing up in a very protestant area, I never knew about the Ash Wednesday service until I moved to Omaha as an adult. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/30 "2011-03-10T05:32:43Z")
There is a large Catholic church about 1-1/2 blocks from my office (downtown San Francisco), heavily attended by Filipinos and Latinos. Every year that’s how I know that Lent has started, when I see people on the street at lunchtime with that smudge on their forehead. I think they have more than one service on Ash Wednesday. I wasn’t able to go outside for lunch today, so I didn’t see them. But I have faith they were there. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![ladysorrowfree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@ladysorrowfree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladysorrowfree)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/31 "2011-03-10T05:33:05Z")
I got mine at the early mass before work, and only had a couple of remarks: one from a lady down the hall who admitted to being a former Catholic, and one from a co-worker in my group who said in an embarrassed undertone, “Hey, you’ve got dirt on your face.” ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/32 "2011-03-10T07:34:28Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Yeah, usually a much smaller smudge/cross. It sometimes looks like a person’s been bruised on the forehead. > > I didn’t know it was restricted to just Catholics. I thought other Christians did it too? My family used to attend a stodgy Presbyterian church that did the ash thing. 184 Google hits on “stodgy presbyterian”. I liked the phrase as soon as I typed it, and upon searching, I was surprised there weren’t more. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/33 "2011-03-10T09:01:04Z")
In Japan? No. But really the Catholics over here just need to work out a deal with AKB48 to have like an eyelash burnt along with the wood and half of Japan would be sporting some. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/34 "2011-03-10T09:03:23Z")
I strongly doubt it: I checked Mass times for the parishes closest to my house, and all of them move their Ash Wednesday Mass from evening to morning times (the same times as on Sunday). Hey guys! People under the age of 65 are at work! You see it more in Navarra, but then, early-morning Mass is also more common there. I saw quite a few ashes on foreheads when I was is Basel (enough to still remember it), but Catholicism is part of that canton’s cultural identity the way it used to be of Spain’s. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/35 "2011-03-10T09:09:10Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever seen it. A local Anglican church does a sort of march and presumably the people in it mark their foreheads with ashes, but I’ve never seen people just do it randomly, even the Catholic half of my family. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/36 "2011-03-10T13:44:52Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Yeah, usually a much smaller smudge/cross. It sometimes looks like a person’s been bruised on the forehead. > > I didn’t know it was restricted to just Catholics. I thought other Christians did it too? Yes, Lutherans and Methodists do it as well. Not sure about other denominations. > [@Leaffan](#): > > I would say no, since I have never seen this. Do you mean crosses on the forehead or something? [(Like this?)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_wednesday) I’ve never seen one that was such a perfect cross. Usually, it’s just a smudge or vaguely cross-shaped mark. ---
**Author:** ![rayman5321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@rayman5321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayman5321)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/37 "2011-03-10T14:28:52Z")
When I lived in New Orleans, it was fairly common. Here in central North Carolina, it’s quite rare. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/38 "2011-03-10T14:49:16Z")
Used to be that our area had two main Catholic churches and a bunch of smaller Protestant churches. The Methodist church got bigger and we’ve got a lot of people going out of town to MegaChurches. But, the Catholic churches are still going strong so I’ll give it a thumbs up for “common.” My Lutheran church does the ashes on the head. Ash Wednesday always makes me think of the night my brother and I went to see _The Passion of the Christ_. It was on an Ash Wednesday and when we left, feeling queasy and all, we saw a lot of folks with ashes on their heads. It seemed sort of more powerful after having seen the film. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/39 "2011-03-10T15:27:53Z")
> [@purplehaze2007](#): > > I got mine at the early mass before work, and only had a couple of remarks: one from a lady down the hall who admitted to being a former Catholic, and one from a co-worker in my group who said in an embarrassed undertone, “Hey, you’ve got dirt on your face.” Were you kicking your can all over the place? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089/40 "2011-03-10T16:42:45Z")
Lutheran here. We did it, but in an evening service, so I wasn’t walking around all day with the ashes. I work from home, so I didn’t see anyone with ashes during the day. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-many-people-in-your-area-get-ashes-on-ash-wednesday/574089.md?page=3)