Those who go down into the furnaces of Egypt come up changed… She had been stamped with the mark and would never be the same again.
-Hannah Hurnard-

The cross of ashes is not a memento mori; it is a sign of Christ’s victory over death. It might be good stoicism to wear a reminder of our condemnation to die, but it is not Christianity.
-Thomas Merton-

I know I can stand up to this bit of history that we are experiencing right now. I know what is happening and yet my head is clear. Sometimes I feel as if a layer of ashes were being sprinkled over my heart, as if my face were withering and decaying, as if everything were falling apart and my heart were letting everything go. But these are brief moments, then my head clears and I can once more bear to stand up to this piece of history which is ours. For once you have begun to walk with God, you need only to keep on walking with God.
-Etty Hillesum-

Joseph was cast into a pit as a figure of thy burial and resurrection. But what offering such as this can I ever make to thee?
-Byzantine Matins-

If, as they say, some dust thrown in my eyes
Will keep my talk from getting overwise,
I’m not the one for putting off the proof.
Let it be overwhelming, off a roof
And round a corner, blizzard snow for dust,
And blind me to a standstill if it must.
-Robert Frost-

By contrition we are made clean; by compassion, ready; and by genuine longing for God, worthy. These three are the means to attain heaven. They are medicines necessary for the soul to be healed. Though healed, the soul’s wounds are visible to God, who sees them as honorable scars.
-Julian of Norwich-