Ashes from tree branches aside from palm may be used for Ash Wednesday

THE Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Saturday, January 16, 2021, said parishes may burn other tree branches aside from palm and use the ashes for Ash Wednesday on February 17.

"We would like to add that the ashes that will be used for this year’s Ash Wednesday can be from dried branches or leaves of plants or trees," CBCP - Episcopal Commission on Liturgy chairman Bishop Victor Bendico said in a statement.

Bendico noted that only a few palm branches were blessed in 2020 owing to the strict quarantine restrictions.

He said the Church has acknowledged that parishes would find it difficult to secure old palm branches that were blessed on Palm Sunday in 2020.

Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent, or the 40-day season of reflection and prayer for Catholics.

The ashes used to mark the Catholics’ foreheads on Ash Wednesday come from palm branches that were blessed during the previous year's Palm Sunday mass.

Earlier, the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship released a note laying out the procedures that priests around the world are to follow in the distribution of ashes on Ash Wednesday.

Bendico said further liturgical guidelines on the observance of Lent are set to be issued by the CBCP depending on the latest developments in the pandemic. (HDT / SunStar Philippines)