Ash Wednesday - First day of Lent

Ash Wednesday - First day of Lent

Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting, is the first day of Lent in Western Christianity. It occurs 46 days (40 fasting days, if the six Sundays, which are not days of fast, are excluded) before Easter and can fall as early as February 4 or as late as March 10. Ash Wednesday is observed by many Western Christians, including Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Roman Catholics.


According to the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus Christ spent 40 days fasting in the desert, where he endured temptation by Satan. Lent originated as a mirroring of this, fasting 40 days as preparation for Easter. Every Sunday was seen as a commemoration of the Sunday of Christ's resurrection and so as a feast day on which fasting was inappropriate. Accordingly, Christians fasted from Monday to Saturday (six days) during six weeks and from Wednesday to Saturday (four days) in the preceding week, thus making up the number of 40 days. Orthodox do this 40 days in a row.

Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of blessing ashes made from palm branches blessed on the previous year's Palm Sunday, and placing them on the heads of participants to the accompaniment of the words "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" or "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return".

Christians have traditionally put ashes on their foreheads in the shape of a cross as a reminder of our need for repentance and forgiveness. The words (based on Genesis 3:19) used traditionally to accompany this gesture are: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return. But the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever." Participating in that act, we are reminded of our mortality and our need for God's love. Much of what we invest ourselves in is temporary; only our life in Christ is what truly matters in this world and the next. The ashes are first, a sign of humility (originally dust on the forehead was an indicator that one had bowed her or his head all the way to the ground in repentance and prayer before God) and second, a reminder that it is in Christ's cross that we have access to unending life. Throughout the season of Lent many people participate in acts of discipline to prepare for the Easter celebration and the resurrected life we share with Christ Jesus, our Lord.