Significance of Ash Wednesday and Lent Season

Ash Wednesday is one of the most popular and important holy days in the liturgical calendar. Ash Wednesday opens Lent, a season of fasting and prayer. Ash Wednesday takes place 46 days before Easter Sunday, and is chiefly observed by Catholics, although many other Christians observe it too. Ash Wednesday comes from the ancient Jewish tradition of penance and fasting. The practice includes the wearing of ashes on the head. The ashes symbolize the dust from which God made us. 

As the priest applies the ashes to a person's forehead, he speaks the words: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Ash Wednesday – officially known as the Day of Ashes — is a day of repentance, when Christians confess their sins and profess their devotion to God. 

The last time Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday occurred on the same day was in 2018. Ash Wednesday is traditionally observed with fasting and abstinence from meat in several Christian denominations. Wednesday, February 14, is not only Valentine's Day, also Vasant Panchami in India. 

That day is also Ash Wednesday, marking the start of the Lenten season, a 40-day period of reflection before the joyful celebration that is Easter, when Christians believe Jesus was resurrected. Ash Wednesday – officially known as the Day of Ashes — is a day of repentance, when Christians confess their sins and profess their devotion to God. The last time Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday occurred on the same day was in 2018. 

 This year, Lent runs through the evening of March 28, Holy Thursday, while Easter is on Sunday, March 31. (Eastern Christians celebrate Lent from March 18 to May 4, with Easter falling on May 5.) Ash Wednesday "is a day that offers all Christians a chance to reconnect with the reality of Jesus and his suffering for us because of sin and death. 

Deep down, we realize that if we don’t appreciate that, if we don’t commit to his words and his example, and if we don’t do things to show that we recognize our weakness and want his help, then a terrible mistake is made. We may lose our chance for eternal happiness with God and the saints in heaven," said the Arch Diocese of New York. Give good thought to our Lenten practices to bring us more deeply in union with Jesus Christ: For prayer consider daily Mass, praying the rosary, doing the Stations of the Cross each week, a retreat or day of recollection, reading scripture or signing up for Eucharistic Adoration. 

 Sweeney continues, "For fasting consider looking at those things that have their hooks in us from electronic devices, to food and drink, to talk and company that do not promote virtuous living or a state of grace, to all that keeps us from taking a proper Sabbath rest each Sunday."

 Abstinence from meats is to be observed by all Catholics 14 years old and older on Ash Wednesday and on all the Fridays of Lent. Fasting is to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday by all Catholics who are 18 years of age but not yet 60. Those who are bound by this may take only one full meal. Two smaller meals are permitted if necessary to maintain strength according to one's needs, but eating solid foods between meals is not permitted. 

 Why the use of ashes? During a Mass, a priest places the ashes on a worshiper's forehead in the shape of a cross. The ceremony, which also can be performed by a minister or pastor, is meant to show that a person belongs to Jesus Christ, and it also represents a person's grief and mourning for their sins – the same sins that Christians believe Jesus Christ gave his life for when he died on the cross. The ashes symbolize both death and repentance. 

During this period, Christians show repentance and mourning for their sins, because they believe Christ died for them. When the priest applies the cross of ashes, he says to the worshiper: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” He also may say “Repent and believe in the Gospel." You do not need to be Catholic to receive ashes on Ash Wednesday. 

Christians and even those disconnected from traditions of faith, sometimes observe. It is not required that a worshiper wear the ashes for the rest of the day, although many Christians choose to do so. However, dining out or doing non-essential shopping are considered inappropriate on Ash Wednesday. 

 Ash Wednesday is a Christian holy day that carries significant meaning as Christians turn their hearts towards God in repentance and prayer. The symbolism of Ash Wednesday and Lent is remembering our mortality, need for salvation, and the period of temptation and testing that Jesus faced in the desert. In many congregations, the ashes are prepared by burning palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday. On Palm Sunday, churches bless and hand out palm branches to attendees, referencing the Gospels’ account of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when onlookers lay palm branches on his path.