What is the meaning of Ash Wednesday?
Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the season of Lent in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar, also observed by other Christian denominations, but most strongly associated with the Catholics. Generally, the day is used as a day of fasting and prayer, to reflect on the death of Jesus as believed by Catholics . The day marks the season of Lent is one of fasting and prayer, where catholics are asked to abstain from meat, large meals, and snacking during certain days (but they can have two small meals). On Ash Wednesday, people also get ashes smudged on their heads in the shape of a cross. Again, all of this is symbolic of the upcoming death of Jesus, and Lent and by extension Ash Wednesday, observes this death. It’s almost like a month of mourning, actually. Here’s some links also. http://en.wikipedia.
I think a reflection I read recently captures part of it: A few days ago I stood by the bedside with my wife and her father, as the last of many strokes ended her mother’s life. Esther took her last breath, and then after a few moments her pulse was no more. “Come away,” I said to my wife, as we left the room, instructing the nurses to remove the oxygen mask and to close her eyes. I know that in many places it’s still a common enough experience to watch someone die. I’ve seen it happen twice, and I guess I’d be content to go on with my life and never see it again. Do people ever grow accustomed to it? I don’t know. It was a profound mystery; at one moment, she lay in bed, breathing slowly and quietly; if she was doing nothing else, she was being. And then there was no “she,” not in this world of time and change.You can read the rest of Anthony Esolen’s comments here at Touchstone Magazine’s Mere Comments What is the point of Ash Wednesday? Is it to show how pious we are? No. It’s to re
Yesterday was Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), the last day of the Carnival season. Ash Wednesday is the day after, and is the first day of Lent. Now you might ask, what is the meaning of Lent? Lent is the is the forty-day-long liturgical season of fasting and prayer before Easter. The forty days have meaning as the time Jesus spent in the desert, where according to the Bible he endured temptation by Satan. As Easter varies from year to year, so do Lent and Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday, AKA the Day of Ashes, can occur as early as February 4 or as late as March 10. On Ash Wednesday, here’s what will happen in churches, for those unsure: On this day all the faithful according to ancient custom are exhorted to approach the altar before the beginning of Mass, and there the priest, dipping his thumb into ashes previously blessed, marks the forehead — or in case of clerics upon the place of the tonsure — of each the sign of the cross, saying the words: “Remember man that thou ar
