Ash Wednesday 2018: When Is It and Why Some Christians Observe It?
While many will be celebrating Valentine's Day this February 14, Roman Catholic faithful will go to church for Ash Wednesday, the official beginning of the Lent Season this year.
The observance of the Lent Season dates back to thousands of years and remains to be an important event of many Christian churches, including the Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, and Roman Catholic churches. Every year, the Lent season officially begins with Ash Wednesday, whose date changes every year.
This year, the religious event falls on Valentine's Day, February 14.
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For Roman Catholics, Ash Wednesday begins with a mass attended by faithful. Once the mass ends, the faithful line up to have their forehead marked with a cross made from ash.
The ash used as a marking of the cross comes from the burned palm leaves blessed the previous year's Palm Sunday celebration, which, on the other hand, is also a part of the Lent Season observance as it symbolizes Jesus' entry to Jerusalem, wherein his path was covered in palm leaves.
Catholics who have their forehead marked with ash shaped as a cross usually allow the symbol to stay throughout the day as a way to express their faith and penance publicly.
Apart from being a symbol of penance and faith, the ash cross symbol also stands for mortality as ash reminds people of the Biblical truth that they come from dust and will return to dust when they die.
As Ash Wednesday is the official start of the Lent Season, it is also the beginning of the sacrifice period that lasts for 40 days. On Ash Wednesday, many people abstain from eating meat as a way of giving up pleasure. From then on, faithful also abstains from eating meat and/or engaging in any pleasurable habits every Friday of Lent.
Lent Season is primarily aimed at preparing faithful for the death and resurrection of Jesus, who, according to the Bible, struggled and fasted in the wilderness for 40 days.
The season officially ends on Easter Sunday, which falls on April 1 this year.
