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Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, the 40-day
period (not including Sundays) of fasting and repentance
leading up to Easter.Ash Wednesday rituals at the
University of Washington. Photo: Joe Nicholson. Wearing
the ashes after the Ash Wednesday service. Photo:
cindylu. Up until the 7th century, Lent began on the
Sunday (Quadragestima Sunday) six weeks prior to Easter,
but the four extra days were eventually added to
parallel Jesus' 40 days of fasting in the wilderness.
Ash Wedensday falls on February 21 in 2007.
History of Ash Wednesday
Originally, the first day of Lent was the day on which
public penitents at Rome began their penance. They were
sprinkled with ashes, dressed in sackcloth, and required
to remain apart from the community until Maundy Thursday
(the Thursday before Easter).
As this practice fell into disuse between the 8th and
10th centuries, it was replaced by the general penance
of the entire congregation. From at least as early as
the 8th century, this day was known as dies cinerum (day
of ashes). This reflects the central ritual of this
holiday, the placing of ashes on the forehead to
symbolize mourning and penitence.
This ritual continues in the Roman Catholic Church
today. Anglican, Lutheran and some other Protestant
churches also hold a special worship service on Ash
Wednesday, but do not usually include the ritual of
ashes on the forehead. In Eastern Orthodoxy, Lent begins
on a Monday known as "Clean Monday."
Ash
Wednesday Rituals and Observances
The ashes used on Ash Wednesday are usually derived from
burning the blessed palm branches left from the last
Palm Sunday celebration. The ashes are blessed,
sprinkled with holy water and fumigated with incense.
Members of the clergy receive ashes from fellow clergy,
usually from the most senior member of the clergy
present. Monks receive their mark of ashes on their
tonsure rather than their foreheads. Priests then place
ashes on all willing members of the congregation,
usually in the shape of a cross.
At some churches, believers wash the ashes off before
leaving the church to symbolize that they have been
cleansed of their sins; in other churches, participants
leave the ashes on when they leave, thereby "carrying
the cross out into the world." In the Roman Catholic
Church, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are the only days
on which fasting is still universally required.
Dates
of Ash Wednesday
Ash
Wednesday falls on the following dates:
 February 13, 2013
March 5, 2014
February 18, 2015
February 10, 2016
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