What is the meaning of Ash Wednesday?

Answer 1

I hope this help you Ash Wednesday- is the beginning of Lent for Western Christian churches. It's a day of penitence to clean the soul before the Lent fast. Roman Catholic, Anglican, and some other churches hold special services at which worshippers are marked with ashes as a symbol of death, and sorrow for sin.
Here is the website I got the information from. http://www.thisischurch.com/christianinfo/ashwednesday.htm

Answer 2

Definition Of Ash Wednesday

Answer 3

Ash Wednesday Definition

Answer 4

If there ever is a day of the year when you can spot Catholics at a glance, Ash Wednesday is it. It is the one time when Catholics literally wear their faith on their foreheads. In fact, Masses on Ash Wednesday are better attended than Masses on most holy days, except Christmas.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent for Catholics. The ashes we receive on our forehead in the shape of a cross serve as an outward sign of our sinfulness and need for penance. The ashes also symbolize our mortality, a reminder that one day we will die and our bodies will return to dust. Hence the traditional words, “Remember that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return.”

The tradition of receiving ashes has its origins in the Old Testament, where sinners performed acts of public penance. It was Pope Urban II who in the 11th century recommended that all Catholics take part in the practice of receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday. In the 12th century it became customary that the ashes used on Ash Wednesday were made by burning the previous year’s palm branches.

Ash Wednesday is also a day of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. According to Church law, Catholics older than the age of 14 are supposed to abstain from meat. In addition, those between the ages of 18 and 59, not including pregnant or nursing mothers, should eat only one full meal. Smaller amounts of food—not as much as a full meal—may be eaten in the morning and either at lunchtime or dinner, depending on when you eat your full meal.

Answer 5

There is a wealth of information on the net which can be accessed through the various search engines. But simply, Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the Christian Liturgical season marked by increased prayer, almsgiving, fasting, abstinence, and thoughtful consideration of the sufferings of Christ, His Passion and Death and of the sufferings of many of our fellow human beings.

Answer 6

In the Western Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. It occurs forty-six days before Easter, but Lent is nevertheless considered forty days long, because Sundays in this period are not counted as days of penance. It falls on different dates from year to year, according to the date of Easter; it can occur as early as February 4 or as late as March 10. Ash Wednesday can fall on Leap Day only during a leap year for which April 15 is Easter Sunday. The next time Ash Wednesday will fall on Leap Day will be in 2096, the first such year since the 1582 adoption of the Gregorian Calendar.

At Masses and services of worship on this day, worshippers are blessed with ashes by the celebrating priest or minister. The priest or minister marks the forehead of each participant with black ashes, in the shape of a cross, which the worshipper traditionally retains until washing it off after sundown. In many Christian churches, the minister of ashes may also be a layperson or non-clergyman. The symbolism echoes the ancient Near Eastern tradition of throwing ash over one's head signifying repentance before God (as related in the Bible). The priest or minister offers the worshipper an instruction while applying the ashes. These are three examples:

"Remember, man, that you are dust
And unto dust you shall return."
(Latin: Memento homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris.)
This wording comes from Genesis 3:19.
or

"Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel."
or

"Repent, and hear the good news."
The ashes are prepared by burning palm leaves from the previous year's Palm Sunday celebrations and mixing them with olive oil as a fixative. In the Roman Catholic Church, Ash Wednesday is observed by fasting, abstinence (from meat), and repentance—a day of contemplating one's transgressions. The ashes are sacramentals, not a sacrament. The penitential psalms are read.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season, which lasts until the Easter Vigil. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 are permitted to consume only one full meal, which may be supplemented by two smaller meals, which together should not equal the full meal. Many Catholics will go beyond the minimum obligations demanded by the Church and undertake a complete fast or a bread and water fast. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are also days of abstinence from meat, as are all Fridays in Lent. Many Catholics continue fasting during the whole of lent, as was the Church's traditional requirement, concluding only after the celebration of the Easter Vigil.

The Anglican Book of Common Prayer designates Ash Wednesday as a day of fasting.


"Ash Wednesday" by Carl Spitzweg: the end of CarnivalAs the first day of Lent, it comes the day after Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras, the last day of the Carnival season. The word "Carnival" is in fact derived from Latin carne vale: "farewell, meat".

In 2007, Ash Wednesday falls on February 21. Ash Wednesday will occur on the following dates in the following years:

2007 - February 21
2008 - February 6
2009 - February 25
2010 - February 17
2011 - March 9
2012 - February 22
2013 - February 13
2014 - March 5
2015 - February 18
2016 - February 10
2017 - March 1
2018 - February 14
2019 - March 6

Answer 7

The ashes remind us or our own mortality and that NOW is the time to examine your life carefully and to repent.

Wearing of sackcloth and ashes is VERY Biblical. It is found in many places in the Old Testament.

BTW, receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday is not a Sacrament, so all people, Catholic or non-Catholic are welcome to receive ashes as a sign of their intention to repent.

Answer 8

The provider attracts on the classic Biblical traditions of overlaying one's head with ashes, wearing sackcloth, and fasting. In Ash Wednesday centers churchgoers are marked on the brow with a pass of ashes as an illustration of penitence and mortality. it relatively is pondered interior the formula that got here to be linked with the distribution of ashes: "undergo in strategies which you're airborne dirt and dirt and to airborne dirt and dirt you will return." the 2d formula (after Vatican II) is: "turn far flung from sin and be dedicated to the gospel."

Answer 9

Fasting is to be done in private, one should act normal to all other people, they should not see you looking sad or see you mourning. It is a time of deep contrition and communion with God in private.
Putting ashes on their forehead is an outward show. Who are they trying to impress.

Answer 10

It is a Catholic thing.
It is part of their ritualism.
Part of their traditionalism.

There is no basis in the Bible for it.
There is no ritual pointed out in the Bible.
I have researched it thoroughly.