Occurring 46 days before Easter, it is a moveable fast that can fall as early as February
4 and as late as March 10. According to the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke; Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the
desert, where he endured temptation by Satan. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning
of this 40-day liturgical period of prayer and fasting or abstinence. Of the 46
days until Easter, six are Sundays. As the Christian Sabbath, Sundays are not
included in the fasting period and are instead "feast" days during Lent.
Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of placing ashes on the
foreheads of adherents as a celebration and reminder of human mortality, and as a
sign of mourning and repentance to God. The ashes used are typically
gathered from the burning of the palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday. Although generally seen as a Catholic practice, as it was mostly
abandoned by Protestants except for Anglicans after the Protestant Reformation, it has
become increasingly common in much of Christianity, now being
observed by many Lutherans and Methodists in addition to Catholics and
Anglicans. One tradition is to keep palm from the previous year's Palm Sunday to be burned to produce the ashes. The
liturgical imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday is a sacramental, not a sacrament, and in the Catholic understanding
of the term the ashes themselves are also a sacramental. The ashes are blessed
according to various rites proper to each liturgical tradition, sometimes
involving the use of Holy Water. In some churches, they are mixed with a small
amount of water or olive oil, which
serve as a fixative. In most liturgies for Ash Wednesday, the Penitential psalms are read; Psalm 51 (LXX Psalm 50) is especially associated
with this day. The
service also often includes a corporate confession rite.
In some of the low church traditions, other practices are
sometimes added or substituted, as other ways of symbolizing the confession and
penitence of the day. For example, in one common variation, small cards are
distributed to the congregation on which people are invited to write a sin they
wish to confess. These small cards are brought forth to the altar table where they are burned. In the
Catholic Church, ashes, being sacramental, may be given to anyone who wishes to
receive them, as opposed to Catholic sacraments, which are generally reserved for
church members, except in cases of grave necessity. Similarly, in other Christian denominations ashes may
be received by all who profess the Christian faith and are baptized.
In the
Catholic Church, Ash Wednesday is observed by fasting, abstinence from meat, and repentance—a day of contemplating one's
transgressions. The Anglican Book of Common Prayer also
designates Ash Wednesday as a day of fasting. In the medieval period, Ash
Wednesday was the required annual day of penitential confession occurring after
fasting and the remittance of the tithe.
In other Christian denominations these
practices are optional, with the main focus being on repentance. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, Catholics between the ages of 18
and 59 (whose health enables them to do so) are permitted to consume only one
full meal, which may be supplemented by two smaller meals, which together
should not equal the full meal. Some Catholics will go beyond the minimum
obligations demanded by the Church and undertake a complete fast or a bread and
water fast. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are also days of abstinence from meat
(mammals and fowl), as are all Fridays during Lent. Some
Catholics continue fasting throughout Lent, as was the Church's traditional
requirement, concluding only after the celebration of the Easter Vigil.
As the
first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday comes the day after Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), the last day of the Carnival season. Dutch tradition holds the
custom to eat salted herring on Ash Wednesday to conclude the carnival in the Netherlands.
DR. KARL WALLACE D.D.S.
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