Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and marks the first day of Lent: the seven weeks of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving before the arrival of Easter. Ash Wednesday is observed by Christians of the Catholic, Lutheran, Moravian, Anglican (Episcopalian), and United Protestant denominations, as well as by some churches in the Reformed (including certain Congregationalist, Continental Reformed, and Presbyterian churches), Baptist, Methodist, and Nazarene traditions. Ash Wednesday is traditionally observed with fasting and abstinence from meat in several Christian denominations. As it is the first day of Lent, many Christians begin Ash Wednesday by marking a Lenten calendar, praying a Lenten daily devotional, and making a Lenten sacrifice that they will not partake of until the arrival of Eastertide. Many Christians attend special Ash Wednesday church services at which churchgoers receive ash on their foreheads or the top of their heads, as the wearing of ashes has been a sign of repentance since biblical times. The imposition of ashes is typically done with the sign of the cross, signifying that the recipient is a follower of Jesus. Ash Wednesday derives its name from this practice, in which the words accompany the placement (imposition) of ashes, "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" or the dictum "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." The ashes are prepared by burning palm leaves from the previous year's Palm Sunday celebrations.