What is Ash Wednesday?

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

To peeps, what you just described is Palm Sunday, not Ash Wednesday.

And, to the girl above me, people do still use ashes. I am not Catholic. And tonight around 7pm, I will be ashed. Your information is wrong.

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. It is celebrated by Liturgical churches (Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, United Methodist, Presbyterian USA, and United Church of Christ). It is 40 days, but it doesn't include Sundays because those are celebration days. Sunday is a day of feasting, while Lent is a time of fasting. It prepares someone for the season of Easter. Lent is a time of repentance, fasting and preparation for the coming of Easter. It is a time of self-examination and reflection. In the early church, Lent was a time to prepare new converts for baptism. Today, Christians focus on their relationship with God, often choosing to give up something or volunteering and giving of themselves for others. The forty days represents the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan.

The last week of Lent is Holy Week. It starts with Palm Sunday (the day when we remember Christ coming back into Jerusalem where people laid palms on the road). Thursday is Maundy Thursday. Maundy comes from the Latin word that means Commandment because during the John scripture of the Last Supper Christ gave his disciples a new commandment (to love one another). Maundy Thursday is the day of the Last Supper. Good Friday is the day we remember the death of Christ. Easter Sunday ends Lent.

Amanda

Answer 3

Ash Wednesday liturgies are some of the best attended in the entire year. Ashes are an ancient symbol of repentance (sackcloth and ashes). They also remind us of our mortality ("remember that you are dust") and thus of the day when we will stand before God and be judged. This can be linked easily to the death and resurrection motif of Baptism. To prepare well for the day we die, we must die now to sin and rise to new life in Christ. Being marked with ashes at the beginning of Lent indicates our recognition of the need for deeper conversion of our lives during this season of renewal.

Answer 4

By wearing a cross of ashes on their foreheads, Christians ask God's help to see things as they really are ("Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return."), and to set their eyes on what lasts forever. They also express their bond with other disciples of the Lord who publicly wear these ashes on their foreheads.

During the Reformation, most Protestant churches eliminated the use of ashes, along with many other external practices. As a result, a person wearing ashes on Ash Wednesday is identified as a Catholic.

Answer 5

It is a lame excuse of a way for the priests to not worry about the abuse of the little boys. This is why the Catholics say they protect and defend the rights of gays. Al;so, this gives you a chance to repent. But you have to give up meat while the elders and priests pig out on beef burgers.

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, for the sake of getting 10 lousy points.

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

Answer 6

My husband and I were talking about this. I do not celebrate I am not catholic but something along with the palm branches that were waved when Jesus came into town before he was crucified. They burn the palm branches and they have them blessed then they use the ashes to bless you with by smudging it on your forehead and such someone who does celebrate is probably better at explaining it than I am.

Answer 7

not sure why ash, but the beginning of lent, the end of mardi gras, which was a religious creation so pegans could act up and be forgiven on lent

Answer 8

beginning of Lent.

Answer 9

it is the first day of Lent

Answer 10

its the first day of the lenton fast.