Ash Wednesday
Feast Day: Forty-Six Days Before Easter
It is not a holy day of obligation.
And yet churches are packed.
People line up, sometimes out the door, to have a priest smudge dirt on their foreheads and remind them they are going to die.
Only the Catholic Church could make that popular.
Lord, have mercy on us.
“Remember That You Are Dust”
When the priest places ashes on your forehead, he may say:
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Those words come from God Himself, speaking to Adam after the first sin:
“For dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.”
— Genesis 3:19, Douay-Rheims
Or the priest may say: “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”
Both are true.
Both are good news, if we listen.
Where Do the Ashes Come From?
The ashes are usually made by burning the palm branches from the previous year’s Palm Sunday.
Last year’s “Hosanna” becomes this year’s reminder to repent.
In the Bible, people put on sackcloth and ashes as a sign of sorrow for sin.
The prophet Joel called God’s people back:
“Now therefore saith the Lord: Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning.”
— Joel 2:12, Douay-Rheims
“And rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God”
— Joel 2:13, Douay-Rheims
The ashes are on the outside.
The change is supposed to happen on the inside.
The Beginning of Lent
Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent.
For forty days, Catholics pray, fast, and give to the poor, following Jesus into the desert.
(See Why Catholics Fast and Abstain.)
Fasting and Abstinence
Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and abstinence.
Catholics 14 and older abstain from meat.
Catholics from 18 to 59 fast, eating one full meal and two smaller meals that together do not equal a full meal.
People who are sick, pregnant, or have other serious reasons are excused.
It is a small hunger.
It points to a bigger hunger for God.
When Is It Celebrated?
Ash Wednesday is a movable day.
It falls forty-six days before Easter: forty days of Lent, plus the six Sundays, which are not counted as fast days.
Because Easter moves, Ash Wednesday can fall anywhere from early February to early March.
In 2027, it falls on February 10.
In 2028, it falls on March 1.
What Ash Wednesday Teaches Us
Ash Wednesday tells us the truth about ourselves.
We are dust.
Our lives are short.
But we are dust that God loves.
The same God who formed Adam from the dust breathed His life into him.
Lent is our chance to let Him do it again.
When Is Ash Wednesday?
The Catholic Church observes Ash Wednesday forty-six days before Easter Sunday, as the first day of Lent.
Prayer Inspired by Ash Wednesday
Lord God,
You formed us from the dust of the earth
and breathed Your life into us.
As we begin this Lent,
turn our hearts back to You.
Help us to pray, to fast, and to give,
and bring us with joy to the feast of Easter.
Lord, have mercy on us. Amen.
