What are the origins of Ash Wednesday and the use of ashes?
The liturgical use of ashes originates in the Old Testament times. Ashes symbolized mourning, mortality, and penance. For instance, in the Book of Esther, Mordecai put on sackcloth and ashes when he heard of the decree of King Ahasuerus (or Xerxes, 485-464 BC) of Persia to kill all of the Jewish people in the Persian Empire (Est 4:1). Job (whose story was written between seventh and fifth centuries BC) repented in sackcloth and ashes (Jb 42:6). Prophesying the Babylonian captivity of Jerusalem, Daniel (c. 550 BC) wrote, “I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes” (Dn 9:3). In the 5th century BC, after Jonah’s preaching of conversion and repentance, the town of Ninevah proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, and the king covered himself with sackcloth and sat in the ashes (Jon 3:5-6). These Old Testament examples evidence both a recognized practice of using ashes and a common understanding of their symbolism. Jesus Himself also made referen
