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.
“Jubilarian Profile: John Anglin Marks 50 Years as a Friar” - Feb.“Wandering Friar Blog Becoming Book” - Aug.His reflections can be found on his blog, “The Wandering Friar.” John, a member of the Province’s Ministry of the Word, is stationed in St. And, of course, by all means, do repent and believe in the Gospel. So, on this Ash Wednesday my friends, remember that you are dust, will return to dust and celebrate what a wonderful truth that is. God’s mercy is also shown because we believe that after we return to dust we will return to a loving God. In the meantime, we have a responsibility to care for our common home, the earth, and all of God’s creation that fills the earth.īecause we are creatures made of “dust”, we are in need of God’s mercy - first, because it is God’s merciful providence that sustains us in life, and second, because we are not perfect. Lowly though we are, we are also loved by God. We are lowly creatures, made from the same evolutionary soup as the rest of creation. Pope Francis, in his encyclical “Laudato Si’”, named for Francis’ canticle, reminds us of that truth in the context of today’s world. To be reminded that we are dust is to be reminded that we are finite creatures - that, as Francis often said, we are little, small and God is mighty. So what, then, does this have to do with Ash Wednesday? A lot. He then invites all of creation to sing God’s praises. At that moment, he realized that he was a creature, a created being, like the mice and like the sun, the moon, the water, etc. As he awakened in the morning, there were mice crawling on him and he also felt the glow and warmth of the sun. In actuality, Francis - tired, weary, ill and mostly blind - was spending the night in a lean-to hut along the side of what was then the Poor Clare Monastery in Assisi. Francis composed the beautiful “Canticle of Brother Sun.” Without knowing the context in which this classic of Italian literature was composed, one might think that it expressed the romantic and sentimental thoughts of the young Francis. I would like to make a case this year for the “dust” phrase and a very Franciscan case at that. During 45 years of ministry, I have almost always used the latter form. After the Second Vatican Council, when English began to be used, the words were clear: “Remember that you are dust and unto dust you will return.” That sounded rather harsh to many so the phrase “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” came to be used. iit was Latin, I did not understand the words. I remember well going to my parish church with my mother on this day and the priest said in Latin, “Memento homo quia pulvis es, et in pulvermen reverteris” as our foreheads were marked with ashes. The use of ashes for repentance and/or mourning, however, goes back to biblical times. On Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, Catholics and many other Christians around the world have their foreheads marked with ashes in the form of a cross, a custom that goes back to the papacy of Gregory the Great (590-604). List of Friars with Substantiated AllegationsĪs the season of Lent begins during this Jubilee Year of Mercy, one friar shares why we should embrace the phrase “Remember that you are dust and unto dust you will return.”.