Job’s contemporaries would have immediately recognized the meaning of some of his behaviors that seem strange to us today: tearing his cloak, shaving off his hair, prostrating himself on the ground, sitting amidst ashes (see Jb 1:20-21; 2:8).  Many ancient cultures interpreted all these actions as gestures of mourning.  they were an exterior form of expression for an interior grief.

Sometimes the mourning ritual reflected sorrow over personal loss, as it did at first in Job’s case.  He had just received terrible news about several calamities, including the sudden death of all his children (see Jb 1:13-19).

At other times, these were gestures of remorse — that is, of sorrow over sin.  In this case, the wearing of sackcloth and ashes in particular became a common ritual of penance before God and petition for his forgiveness and help (see Dn 9:3).  Job later used ashes in this way as well, when he felt sorrow for questioning God and decided to “repent in dust and ashes” (Jb 42:6).

The Catholic Church maintains a token of this moving ancient custom as an element of the rite for Ash Wednesday.  On this day, the first day of the penitential season of Lent (see “Why Do Catholics Observe Lent?”), Catholics express remorse for their sins.  The blessed palm branches used in the festive Palm (or Passion) Sunday procession of the year before have been dried and burned, and the ashes are then blessed.  Joy gives way to sorrow, then, as the priest imposes the ashes on each penitent’s forehead — a form of sacramental (see “Why Do Catholics Use Holy Water?”).

Why are ashes such an appropriate expression of penance?  Because they are “dirty.”  They humble us by reminding us that however proud we may be of ourselves, our accomplishments, and our possessions, in the end (as the words of the Ash Wednesday rite recall), we are dirt, and to dirt we shall return (see Gn 3:19).  At the same time, having dirty faces reminds us that sin stains us, and we need to be cleansed of it through God’s grace (see Ps 51:3-5, 9, 11-12).

Related Scripture:

Texts Cited:  Gn 3:19  •  Jn 1:13-21; 2:8; 42:6  •  Ps 51:3-5, 9, 11-12  •  Dn 9:3
General:  Gn 37:34; 44:13  •  Jgs 11:35  •  1 Sm 4:12  •  2 Sm 1:2, 11; 13:31  •  1 Kgs 21:27  •  2 Kgs 2:12; 5:7-8; 6:30; 11:14; 22:11  •  2 Chr 23:13; 34:19, 27  •  Est 4:1-8  •  Ps 102:10  •  Is 58:5; 61:2-3  •  Jer 6:26; 25:34; 36:24  •  Ez 26:16  •  Jl 2:12-13  •  Jon 3:6-10  •  Mt 11:21  •  Lk 10:13
Catechism of the Catholic Church:  540  •  1430-1439  •  1667-1671  •  2043