If you’re visiting the United States in early March, you might notice ash markings on some people’s foreheads. Here’s why.
Several important Christian holidays take place during March and April, landing on different dates every year. In Christian tradition, the 40 days (technically 46, but Sundays are typically not counted) leading up to Easter Sunday are known as Lent.
Lent is a time of reflection, fasting, and penance, and observers often give up luxuries they enjoy (such as alcohol, candy, or favorite television programs) during this season. During Lent, observers are not supposed to eat meat on Fridays, and often this restriction applies to Ash Wednesday as well, in which only a single meal or two small meals may be consumed.
Ash Wednesday, which falls on March 2 this year, marks the beginning of Lent. The most well-known aspect of this holiday is observers having the sign of the cross marked in ashes on their foreheads during Mass. Ashes symbolize death, repentance, and sorrow over sins committed. The priest or pastor bestowing the ashes will traditionally recite this quote from the Bible’s Book of Genesis as he does so: “From dust you came, and from dust you will return.”
The ashes themselves are made from the palms used in the previous year’s Palm Sunday Mass, christened with holy water, and scented with incense. Once a primarily Catholic holy day, the practice of marking foreheads with ash became common among American Christians in general around the 1970s. While some denominations consider it inappropriate to go out in public after receiving the ashes, others embrace the opportunity to go about their day with an obvious mark of their faith on display.
While Ash Wednesday and Lent themselves are a time of penance, solemnity, and grief, they also function as buildup to Easter Sunday, in which Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and is explicitly a joyful holiday. This year, Easter falls on April 17.
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