Ash Wednesday 2023: Why do people wear ashes? Everything to know about Lent

Here’s what you should know about Ash Wednesday and Lent

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Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the day after Mardi Gras and the start of the Christian Lenten season that leads up to Easter.

© Amanda Rossmann, The Enquirer/Amanda Rossmann Worshipers get ashes placed on their foreheads during Ash Wednesday Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains, on March 2, 2022. Ash Wednesday is important because it marks the start of the Lenten period leading up to Easter, when Christians believe Jesus was resurrected. During an Ash Wednesday Mass, a priest places the ashes on a worshiper’s forehead in the shape of a cross. The ceremony, which also can be performed by a minister or pastor, is meant to show that a person belongs to Jesus Christ, and it also represents a person’s grief and mourning for their sins.

During the season, Christians around the world observe a period of reflection, prayer and penance.

Here’s everything to know.

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Why do people wear ashes on Ash Wednesday?

Some churches mark the foreheads of worshippers with an ash cross on Ash Wednesday. The ashes represent two Biblical themes.

As the ashes are applied to a worshipper’s forehead the priest speaks the words: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

The ashes are made from palm branches from the previous year’s Palm Sunday service.

The ashes also represent penance – sackcloth and ashes. It was customary for a penitent to dress in uncomfortable sackcloth and sit in ashes. 

What is Lent?

Lent represents the 40 days Jesus wandered the desert praying and fasting after he was baptized.

It is a period of reflection, prayer and penance. 

Some Christians give something up for Lent. And some abstain from eating meat on Fridays.

Despite Jesus’ 40 days in the desert, Lent lasts 46 days. Sundays during Lent are not “prescribed days” of fasting and abstinence, so those don’t count. Lent ends on Holy Thursday, which is April 6, when there is a Mass to represent Jesus’ last supper.

On Good Friday (April 7), Jesus was crucified, and he rose from the dead on Easter (April 9). 

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What to give up for Lent

Meat isn’t the only thing you can give up for Lent. Many people give up chocolate, candy, alcohol or other decadent or favorite foods.

The Catholic Telegraph, published by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, suggests ways for families to participate by giving up sugary drinks or eating out.

When is Easter?

Lent culminates with Easter Sunday, which will be observed April 9, 2023. The date is different every year, and falls on the first Sunday of the first full moon after the vernal equinox, also called the Paschal Full Moon.

The Eastern Orthodox Church follows a Julian calendar instead of the typical Gregorian, and its Easter celebrations are on the following Sunday, April 16.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ash Wednesday 2023: Why do people wear ashes? Everything to know about Lent