What is Ash wednesday? What is the significance of Ash?

Answer 1

+ Ashes in the Bible +

"O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, roll in the ashes." (Jeremiah 6:26)

"I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes." (Daniel 9:3)

"When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes." (Jonah 3:6)

"And all the Israelite men, women and children who lived in Jerusalem prostrated themselves in front of the temple building, with ashes strewn on their heads, displaying their sackcloth covering before the Lord." (Judith 4:11; see also 4:15 and 9:1)

"That day they fasted and wore sackcloth; they sprinkled ashes on their heads and tore their clothes." (1 Maccabees 3:47; see also 4:39)

Jesus refers to the use of sackcloth and ashes as signs of repentance: "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes." (Matthew 11:21, Luke 10:13)

+ Ash Wednesday +

As the beginning of Lent, Ash Wednesday calls us to the conversion journey that marks the season.

As those preparing to join the Church enter the final stage of their preparation for the Easter sacraments, we are all called to walk with them so that we will be prepared to renew our baptismal promises when Easter arrives.

When we receive ashes on our foreheads, we remember:
+ Who we are
+ That we are creatures of the earth
. "Remember that you are dust"
+ That we are mortal beings
. "and to dust you will return"
+ That we are baptized
+ That we are people on a journey of conversion
. "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel"
+ That we are members of the body of Christ
+ That smudge on our foreheads will proclaim that identity to others, too

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. The ash is produced from the burning of the previous year's palm crosses.

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).

Answer 3

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. (It's mainly the Catholics and Episcopalians that have the ashes on their foreheads.) Lent is the 40 day period leading up to Easter where Christians repent of their sins through the whole year. It involves some form of fasting, but most people will not go through a 40 day fast. Instead, they give up one thing they enjoy for that 40 days.

The significance of the ash on their foreheads is mortality. As the priest is placing the ash, he says, "Remember, man, that you are mortal. From dust you came and to dust you shall return."

Half of my family is Catholic, so they all have ashes on their foreheads today :)

Answer 4

the point of Ash Wednesday is to commence the 40 days of Lent. we are airborne dirt and mud, and to airborne dirt and mud we will go back. Ash Wednesday shows that we are sinners, and we favor God's grace. for this reason why the monks says "Repent and turn to the Gospel." Or some thing on an similar line.

Answer 5

In the oldie days as a Christian you used to fast for 40 days (well eat food that did not contain any fat like leavened bread with no butter on it) between Ash Wednesday & Maunday Thursday. You also put away your best cloths and wore sack cloth & ashes to show that you was sorry for your sins, the other name for the 40 days was Self Denial, meaning that you was not allowed any of the pleasures in live like Alcahole & procreating!
Why did you ask it in Mythology & Folklore, when its a Religious Question?

Answer 6

In the Western Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and occurs forty-six days before Easter. 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, worshipers 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 worshiper 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 worshiper 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
Smurf

Answer 7

Ash Wednesday is the anniversary of terrible fires experienced in Australia. There was two wednesday at the same time of the year but in different years that had similar tragic consequences. So 'Ash Wednesday' has stuck.

Ash refers to what was left over after the fires.

Answer 8

It is a time to rid the ashes and give up something so God will bless you.

It is not for me to say the Catholic Church is tainted and immoral. However, it is time the world knows the real truths. Some of the answerers will shove material down your throat; however, if you click on this web site, the truth will set you free.

http://www.amaluxherbal.com/the_scandals_of_the_catholic_church.htm

With love in Christ; but with truth for the masses.

Answer 9

It is the day Lent begins. Parishoners of a church are marked with the sign of the cross in ashes by the priest or minister as a symbol of penitence and humility

Answer 10

I Thought the Ash Tree and Wotan's Day were sacred to Odin.