Ship of Fools: Burning Palms Liturgy

Thread: Burning Palms Liturgy Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Anglican_Brat (# 12349) on :

Since Lent is early this year, I have a question:

Anyone heard or done a formal liturgy for the burning of Palms into the ashes for Ash Wednesday?

My experience in most parishes is that there is no formal or public liturgy for the burning of palms.

Posted by Crucifer (# 523) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Anglican_Brat:
Since Lent is early this year, I have a question:

Anyone heard or done a formal liturgy for the burning of Palms into the ashes for Ash Wednesday?

My experience in most parishes is that there is no formal or public liturgy for the burning of palms.

We are in the first year of an interregnum, so I don't know what the interim priest has planned, but our long-time rector never had any formal liturgy of which I was aware.

He simply waited until everyone had left after the Shrove Tuesday pancake supper and burned the palms in the parish hall. The smell lingered well into Lent...

Posted by bib (# 13074) on :

We bring our Palm crosses from last year to be burnt on Shrove Tuesday ready for imposition on Ash Wednesday. Not everyone seems to keep last year's cross but there are enough available to burn and use.

Posted by Chapelhead (# 21) on :

I'm not aware of any formal liturgy for burning of the palms, although there are some Psalms that might be suitable (50?, 51?).

As it's Shrove Tuesday and a time to be shriven I suppose the appropriate liturgy might start

quote:
Forgive me Father, for I have sinned, it has been xxx days since my last confession.

(removes tongue from cheek).

Posted by venbede (# 16669) on :

I've seen the palms burnt during the early part of the Ash Wednesday mass, although with no special prayers (during the gradual hymn?).

Mind you, where does it say the ashes have to be last years' palms?

Posted by dj_ordinaire (# 4643) on :

I'm not sure why one would want to make a particular liturgy about this act, which is surely a functional one. The use of e.g. Ps 51 is fine, except surely more appropriate for the day after!

Posted by Arch Anglo Catholic (# 15181) on :

Being something of an IT failure, I have signally failed to attach a link, but if you search on Google for ritual for burning of old palms, on the blogspot of Fr Jess you will find what you desire.

It is a Roman Rite and there is no Anglican provision for this, as far as I a aware. That being said, there is nothing objectionable to my Anglican sensibilities in the rite recorded.

Posted by AberVicar (# 16451) on :

They are so damned difficult to burn that I wouldn't want a public liturgy where people could hear me muttering profanities every time the fire went out!

Posted by earrings (# 13306) on :

quote:
They are so damned difficult to burn that I wouldn't want a public liturgy where people could hear me muttering profanities every time the fire went out!

Indeed, though I am considering experimenting with doing something as part of the Ash Wednesday service this year. Part of me feels i would need "one I had prepared earlier" (let watchers of the Blue Peter programme in the UK understand) in case of failure or the ash still being too warm!!!!!!!
[Biased]

Posted by AberVicar (# 16451) on :

In my previous post I took the painstakingly created ashes to an early Mass in a remote church, ready to take them straight on to another one. After the Mass I found the churchwarden had kindly disposed of them all! [Mad]

The second church ended up with a mixture of clinker from the fire and scraped burned toast. Don't think anyone noticed the difference...

Posted by earrings (# 13306) on :

Abervicar wrote

quote:
In my previous post I took the painstakingly created ashes to an early Mass in a remote church, ready to take them straight on to another one. After the Mass I found the churchwarden had kindly disposed of them all! The second church ended up with a mixture of clinker from the fire and scraped burned toast. Don't think anyone noticed the difference...

And in confession time once I found them so hard to burn that other similar substances would have been found in mine, if analysed. [Hot and Hormonal]

Posted by Arethosemyfeet (# 17047) on :

From what I recall growing up my Dad burnt them on the driveway in an old biscuit tin.

Posted by Stranger in a strange land (# 11922) on :

I have been told that baking them in the oven is the way to go. I'll let you know in a couple of weeks time.

Posted by Qoheleth. (# 9265) on :

I burn them publicly but informally after Mass on the Sunday before Lent, as a trailer for the Big Event. A small amount of accelerant helps. Do you have oil "candles"? <AT YOUR OWN RISK> soak a couple of balls of newspaper with a couple of spoonsful of oil and ...... bingo!

Posted by Anglican_Brat (# 12349) on :

How about at least a prayer when burning the palms:

"Almighty God who art a consuming fire which refines our humanity into the beauty of divinity, bless us as we burn these palms (+). May their ashes signify our mortality and helplessness that we may ever incline to thee, our Saviour and Redeemer, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, now and forever."

Posted by churchgeek (# 5557) on :

I've never burned the palms (where I work, we have a lifetime supply of ashes that were ordered from a catalog years ago), but I hear it helps to add the chrism and/or oil of the sick from the previous year that you have to burn anyway. I'm not sure if that's done with any cloths, cotton balls, or anything else. I do burn the oils where I work, and do so with the cotton balls we've collected from oil stocks and paper napkins used for people to wipe their hands off after anointing with the oils. (We collect those and store them till there are enough to burn.) At any rate, I'm told adding the oils helps make the ashes nice and dark as well. Once years ago I was at an Ash Wednesday service where they were using only burnt palms with no oil, and the ash was such a pale grey you couldn't see it on most people's foreheads!

Posted by Mama Thomas (# 10170) on :

They are had to burn but sifting can be more difficult. I understand many places are keeping the ashes from previous years, though I know it used to be the custom to pour the blessed ashes down the piscine after the Ash Wednesday service and always to use freshly blessed ashes each year.

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