Should I Wear Ashes All Day?

by Admin · February 17, 2026

Question: We have all heard the injunction from Matthew’s Gospel, “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them.” But I have found that wearing ashes is a recognisable reminder of the season for those whom I meet during the business day, and it can sometimes serve as a tool for evangelisation.
So my question is this: Should I wash off my ashes early in the day to honour the biblical directive or wear them throughout the day with the hope of prompting conversation about them?

Answer: I would say, “Wear the ashes all day.” The passage you quote from (Mt 6:1) is taken from Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, and earlier in that same sermon, Jesus had said, “Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” (5:16).

It all has to do with motivation; what Jesus rules out is wearing ashes “to win the praise of others” (6:2). But that’s not why you are wearing them; your goal, instead, is to have people look at your forehead and wonder what it means.

The ashes serve first as a sign of repentance; in the early church, converts who were coming into the church at Easter were sprinkled with ashes during Lent as a sign of their need for forgiveness. We are not perfect people; all of us stand in need of God’s mercy. Second, the ashes indicate our mortality — the fact that our bodies will one day return to the dust of the earth.

When worn for the right reasons, ashes witness publicly to our belief. Matthew’s Gospel discourages not the outward show of faith but the interior pride that could undermine it. As you have found, the ashes can sometimes lead to a discussion about their meaning, and that is surely a worthy outcome.

Answered by Father Kenneth Doyle, CNS