Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. It is also known as the “Day of Ashes,” because of the practice of rubbing ashes on one’s forehead in the sign of a cross. Since it is exactly 40 days (excluding Sundays) before Easter Sunday, it will always fall on a Wednesday. While the Bible does not mention Ash Wednesday, it does record accounts of people in the Old Testament using dust and ashes as symbols of repentance and/or mourning (See 2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:1; Job 2:8; Daniel 9:3 etc). The ashes symbolize two main things: death and repentance. Ashes are equivalent to dust, and human flesh is composed of dust or clay (Genesis 2:7), and when a human corpse decomposes, it returns to dust or ash.As the priest or any designated minister applies the ashes to a person’s forehead, he speaks the words: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Alternatively, the priest may speak the words, “Repent and believe in the Gospel.”
Lent is intended to be a time of self-denial, moderation, fasting, prayer, almsgiving and the forsaking of sinful activities and habits. Ash Wednesday commences this period of spiritual discipline. According to the General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, No. 28 “Lent runs from Ash Wednesday until the Mass of the Lord’s Supper exclusive. From the beginning of Lent until the Paschal Vigil, the Alleluia is not said.”
It is important to note that Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence (Cf. Canons 1250-1251) especially from meat. This means having only one full meal that day. Several smaller meals may be substituted – to sustain one’s physical strength, as long as they together do not exceed one full meal. This is to honour Christ and to focus on His passion and death and our relationship with Him. The obligation to fast is removed for people who are ill for whom fasting from food would impose a physical hardship and all who are 59 and older – or younger than 14 years of age.
Finally, before all else, we are obliged to perform the duties of our state in life. Any deprivation that would seriously hinder us in carrying out our work, as students, employees or parents would be contrary to the will of God.
