In Isaiah, the lifespan of human beings is compared to the short lifespan of grass: "The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it surely the people are grass" (Is. In Ecclesiastes, the Preacher insists that "It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart" (Eccl. In Psalm 90, Moses prays that God would teach his people "to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom" (Ps. Several passages in the Old Testament urge a remembrance of death. The Stoic Marcus Aurelius invited the reader to "consider how ephemeral and mean all mortal things are" in his Meditations. The Stoic Epictetus told his students that when kissing their child, brother, or friend, they should remind themselves that they are mortal, curbing their pleasure, as do "those who stand behind men in their triumphs and remind them that they are mortal".
#REMEMBER FROM DUST YOU CAME FULL#
The Stoics of classical antiquity were particularly prominent in their use of this discipline, and Seneca's letters are full of injunctions to meditate on death. Plato's Phaedo, where the death of Socrates is recounted, introduces the idea that the proper practice of philosophy is "about nothing else but dying and being dead". The philosopher Democritus trained himself by going into solitude and frequenting tombs. History of the concept In classical antiquity In other words, "remember death" or "remember that you die". Memento is the 2nd person singular active imperative of meminī, 'to remember, to bear in mind', usually serving as a warning: "remember!" Morī is the present infinitive of the deponent verb morior 'to die'. In English, the phrase is pronounced / m ə ˈ m ɛ n t oʊ ˈ m ɔːr i/, mə- MEN-toh MOR-ee. 3.3.4 In more modern Tibetan Buddhist works.3.2 In Japanese Zen and samurai culture.3 Similar concepts in other religions and cultures.2.5 The salutation of the Hermits of St.2.4 In Europe from the medieval era to the Victorian era.“Behold, now is a very acceptable time behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). “Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart” (Joel 2:12). We perform these works with the urgency communicated in the First and Second Readings of the Ash Wednesday Mass, and with the purity of heart for which Jesus calls in the Gospel: We need to say “yes,” we need to work at the Christian life, we need to “repent and believe in the Gospel.” During Lent, we fortify our cooperation with grace by the works of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. He makes us like Himself, living His life, loving as He loves, becoming holy as He is holy.Īnd it is one of God’s masterstrokes that, in an almost unfathomable mystery, He leaves room for our cooperation in this process of transformation. God does not merely bombard us from the outside, but transforms the very dust of our earthly selves from within. God’s grace is transformative, and that is one of its greatest qualities. In the Mass, Jesus gives Himself to us as Paschal Food and Drink so that we might have the strength to continue our journey. And on Ash Wednesday we celebrate the Holy Eucharist. One of the major Lenten themes is that of Baptism, which is our introduction into divine life and our insertion into the Paschal Mystery of Jesus. This reminds us of how the dust of our bodies was once washed in the waters of Baptism. Such power can only come from above.Īnd so, even the ashes with which we are marked on Ash Wednesday are blessed and sprinkled with holy water. There is no power native to the human race by which we could make the journey from earth to heaven. And it reminds us of the fundamental and transformative difference God makes in our lives. It reminds us of the complete otherness of God’s grace. But Ash Wednesday reminds us of who and what we really are: “dusty” sinners. We are so used to the idea that we’re bound for heaven that we can subconsciously start taking it for granted. And by stages we make our way to Easter, to heaven, to the Resurrection. So to begin Lent we are marked with dust, symbolizing our earthly origin and destiny. Every earthly destiny converges in the inescapable truth of our bodily death and decomposition. “And to dust you shall return”-Lent reminds us that it’s not only our beginning that’s humble. “Remember that you are dust”-Lent begins on Ash Wednesday with a reminder of our very humble origin in the dust of the earth. Each Lent is a microcosm of our whole lives.