2016 Lent & Ash Wednesday
Category: World News
This year Ash Wednesday falls on Wednesday 10 February, 46 days before Easter Sunday. Ash Wednesday marks the
first day of Lent and its 40 days of fasting.
Why do Christians celebrate Ash Wednesday?
Christians particularly Catholics celebrate Lent as remembrance of the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert resisting the temptations of Satan. Ash
Wednesday is the first day of 40 (excluding Sundays), leading up to
Easter Sunday – the celebration of Jesus' resurrection.
Christians
all over the world celebrate the ash Wednesday, usually with a blessed ash, drawn with a finger in the shape of a
cross, placed on their head in church on Ash Wednesday. Usually this is
accompanied by the words like: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you
shall return", or sometimes, "Repent, and believe in the Gospel". The
former is from Genesis 3:19: "By the sweat of your face/you shall eat
bread,/till you return to the ground,/for out of it you were taken;/for
you are dust,/and to dust you shall return." It is a way for Christians
to remind themselves that they are mortal and need to repent for their
sinfulness.
There is no fixed rule for how to administer the
ashes, so some churches may sprinkle them on the heads of their
congregation instead. The ashes themselves are blessed before Holy
Communion is taken and are traditionally made from palm leaves that were
blessed on the previous year's Palm Sunday.
 |
| A Roman Catholic priest applies ashes in the sign of a cross during a mass in observance of Ash Wednesday in Quezon City, Philippines |
Some
congregations welcome non-Christians into the celebration, too: Rt Rev
Seamus Cunningham, bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, said: "This is an
important day, but it's not just for Catholics. Anyone can receive
blessed ashes on Ash Wednesday, whether Christian or not, to express
their desire to grow spiritually and to turn away from their failings,
their areas of weakness and brokenness, in favour of seeking the healing
and wholeness that only God can give. You are welcome to come along to
any Ash Wednesday service and join us in taking this simple, but
profound step."
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