What is Ash Wednesday?

You know it's Ash Wednesday when you see the congregants of the local Catholic Church leaving the worship service that week with an ashen cross on their foreheads. Not restricted to a specific date, it is a rather moveable holy day and directly tied to the date on which Easter will fall. In 2008, Ash Wednesday will fall onto February 6^th, while in 2009 it is destined to be February 25^th.

Within the catholic faith, Ash Wednesday is celebrated precisely 46 days before Easter and ushers in the religious season known as lent. Whereas Easter is the holiest day of the Christian calendar, denoting the occasion of Jesus Christ rising from the dead and thus proving that He, indeed, was the long awaited Messiah, lent is thought of as a season of preparation for that great celebration. It is marked by fasting, usually from certain meats, soul searching in the hopes of finding sins that require repentance, an increased involvement in helping the poor and needy of the local community and prayer.

As Ash Wednesday is the kickoff to lent, the day is commemorated by attendance at worship during which the faithful will be reminded of the fulfillment of the Good News that is close at hand, but also the more fearful reminder that all are made from dust and at some point will return to this same dust.

The use of ashes and dust strewn on one's head has copious precedence in Bible stories of the Old as well as New Testament, where the practice was one that would signify outwardly a humbling of one's self, a willingness to repent and change, and also a commitment to once again wholeheartedly seek out God. Jesus himself spoke of the custom to repent "in ashes" when he spoke of the cities of Korazin and Bethsaida that failed to recognize the miracles He performed as being from God. (Matthew 11:21)

Confession of sin is sometimes required prior to receiving the ashen cross that is placed on the person's forehead, but by and large many churches will content themselves with having a minister led congregation wide confession.