How to Save Palms to Make Ash Wednesday Ashes

The palms you receive on Passion Sunday, or Palm Sunday, are blessed and need to be preserved rather than thrown away. One way to make use of your palm after the Easter season is to burn the palm for ashes to be used on the next Ash Wednesday. Making use of your palm after Easter requires several different ritual practices.

Things You'll Need

• One or more palm leaves
• Holy water
• Heat-resistant cauldron or container
• Matches or lighter
• Incense and incense burner

Instructions

1. Collect the palms you have. Many Christians use the palms they received the previous Palm Sunday. Because the palms you save have been drying over the previous months, they will burn perfectly to make ashes.

2. Place the palms in the container you will use to burn them. Make sure this container is heat resistant and will not heat the surface on which it sits.

3. Say a short prayer out loud or to yourself. There is no formula. Just say what is on your mind or what moves you. You can consult your priest, pastor or religious leader for prayer ideas.

4. Light the palms on fire with your matches or lighter.

5. Recite another short prayer or blessing once the burning is complete.

6. Sprinkle holy water on the ashes, making sure not to drench them.

7. Purify the ashes with incense. You can simply waft the incense smoke over the ashes.

8. Save the ashes you want to use for any Ash Wednesday rite.

9. Save the remaining ashes and bury them in your garden, flower bed or equivalent area outside.

Tips & Warnings

• If you don't have any palms from last year's Palm Sunday service, you can ask your church for extra palms or purchase them from a florist.

• Make sure your burning container is placed on a heat-resistant surface.

• Do not throw any extra ashes away in the trash. These ashes come from palms that have been blessed. Also, you do not want to risk starting a fire in your trash can.

• The actual burning of the ashes should always been done by an adult. Children should be included in this Ash Wednesday ritual, but with adult supervision.