Activity leaders, clergy, and other servers: Please read this description before using this video.
This 41-minute Ash Wednesday service is especially designed for elders with Alzheimer’s and other dementias who may be unable to attend their place of worship. It includes scripture readings, hymns, an interactive homily, and a time for distributing ashes.
Before you start, here are a few things to know.
In both Catholic and Protestant traditions, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, the 40-plus days leading up to Easter Sunday. Lent is observed as a time of humility and repentance before God. The traditional Ash Wednesday observance involves a priest or clergy person administering ashes in the sign of the cross on each worshipper’s forehead.
If you’d like to provide this ritual for seniors in your care, you’ll need ashes, which can be ordered online. (They are typically made by burning palm branches used in the previous year’s Palm Sunday service.)
The texture of Ash Wednesday ashes is extremely fine, not like ordinary ashes. A little goes a long way! Mix the ashes with a tiny amount of neutral oil (not water) to make them easier to apply and to wash off later. Ashes are also easily removed with a bit of mineral oil, petroleum jelly, or soap.
The video includes time to distribute the ashes. As you move through the room with ashes, ask people one by one if they would like to receive. (As I say in the video, if anyone would prefer not to receive for any reason, they can simply say "no thank you.")
If a person would like to receive the ashes, gently dip your thumb or finger in the ashes and make a cross shape on the person’s forehead as you say “Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return. God bless you.”
Have a warm, slightly soapy towel available for you to clean your hands when you’re done. God bless you as you provide this service.
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Also visit my site, Spiritual Eldercare, for free resources to help you provide spiritual care to older adults with dementia: Bible study discussions, dozens of hymn downloads and resources, a year's worth of worship services, and more. spiritualeldercare.com/
I'd love to hear how you're using this video or other Spiritual Eldercare resources. Are you a caregiver or activity director in a long-term care community? A family member? A volunteer? Please let me know how I can help.
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3 фев 2024
