The Rev. Catherine Brall once tried making ashes for Ash Wednesday the traditional way, by burning Palm Sunday palms.

Tony Tye, Post-Gazette The Rev. Tom Sparacino, pastor of St. Mary of Mercy in Downtown Pittsburgh, burns palms to make ashes for Ash Wednesday, on his rooftop patio. Click photo for larger image.

"It was such an ordeal. The palms don't burn easily. I tried mixing it with oil, but you get all of these strings in it. We tried to grind them down with a mortar and pestle. I admire anyone who does that," said the Rev. Brall, provost of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Downtown.

Burn vs. buy is a debate for churches as Lent begins. All Catholic and many Protestant churches impose ashes as a sign of repentance on the first day of Lent, which is today.

The Rev. Brall's altar guild now buys ashes from Kirner's Catholic Bookstore. At her prior parish, another church gave her ashes.

"They go a long way," she said. "I was there for 8 ¹/₂ years, and we went through a quarter of a pill bottle in that time."

Not so at St. Mary of Mercy, the Catholic parish where thousands of Downtown workers line up around the block, leaving with large cruciform smudges on their foreheads.

The Rev. Thomas Sparacino, pastor of St. Mary, burns palm fronds with the help of the church's maintenance man. If it's a large batch, they do it at the maintenance man's home, but they burn small amounts in the barbecue on the rooftop patio of St. Mary's.

It's worth the effort because "it gives people the understanding that we've lived through a whole year of celebrating -- and it's also a way of disposing of the blessed palms properly. But, even more, it's to uphold the traditions of the church," he said.

Burning the palms requires patience -- they smolder rather than burst into flame, he said. He removes strings by forcing the ash through a kitchen strainer, then buries the remains in his mother's garden.

About 200 churches each year obtain ashes through the Diocesan Purchasing Commission in East Carnegie, a Catholic supplier that is open to all denominations.

There, Shrove Tuesday -- the day before Ash Wednesday -- is marked by panicked calls from clergy.

"They can't find their ashes, although they know they've got them somewhere. The secretary was supposed to order them and it didn't happen. It happens every year," said Judy Pearce, buyer for the Diocesan Purchasing Commission.

The ashes, from a Texas Palm nursery that also supplies fronds for Palm Sunday, are one of the great bargains in church goods. A bag of ashes for 100 people costs $3.50; a bag for 1,000 costs $12.75. Given the large size of Catholic parishes, some go through several of the largest bags each year.

"Plus, a lot of the Catholic priests like to put a great, big cross on people's foreheads. I think that makes them go through ashes a little faster," she said.

The Rev. Warren Murrman teaches the history and practice of Ash Wednesday to future Catholic priests at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe. He isn't opposed to buying.

Burning is traditional, and it's good to accompany it with prayers, he said. But it's also messy, time-consuming and likely to contaminate the ashes with burned paper or wood used to start the fire. Commercial ash comes from ovens that incinerate the palms alone, he said.

Ashes are a universal symbol, Father Murrman said.

"Many cultures use ashes in various ceremonies to indicate a consciousness that we are going to die. At the same time, there is also a consciousness that from ashes we are reborn, that there is a kind of renewal through fire," he said.

Ash Wednesday developed from a fourth-century practice in which people who had committed serious public sins would repent and return to the church during Lent, so they could receive the sacraments again on Holy Thursday. Because of their public sin, they would do public penance, wearing sackcloth and ashes.

In later centuries, "we began to be aware that we are all sinners, and we all have a need, and hopefully a willingness, to do penance," Father Murrman said.

"What better time to do that than during Lent? It has a long history with penance. We can make a spiritual connection with the Lord, who is preparing to go to Jerusalem to take up the cross and die for our sins."

In Catholic churches, a priest or bishop must bless the ashes during the Ash Wednesday service. But the blessed ashes can be imposed by a trained lay person if a priest is unavailable.

Traditionally, the priest or minister uses the right thumb to apply ashes to the penitent's forehead so that the penitent feels the shape of the cross. There are two schools of thought on size.

The "small cross" school cites Jesus' admonition that those who are fasting should not make a big display, but wash their face and comb their hair so that God alone knows of their sacrifice. The "large cross" school says that the penitent isn't showing off, but bearing witness.

"I'm not saying I'm holy, I'm saying that I'm in need of God's mercy and I'm willing to do penance and willing to show I'm in need of others' help -- and I'm willing to help them and pray for them to make a good Lent," Father Murrman said.

"To see someone else with that smudge on their forehead means I am not in this world alone."