Do you find any meaning in Ash Wednesday?

Not at all, in fact I forgot it was Ash Wednesday (I thought it was closer to Easter, what do I know) and was wondering why I kept seeing people with dirt on their heads. Then it clicked! Woopie.

Um, why does it have to be a wednesday?

queenie I honestly don’t know, lol. Maybe someone else does.

oh. ok. No, I’ve never heard of it…

Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of the Lent. Lent is the season of the Christian year where believers examine their own humanity and ways they separate themselves from God (sin) to prepare for Jesus’ death and resurrection at Easter.

Lent lasts for forty days, reflective of the forty days Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1–11). As Christians enter their own symbolic wilderness during Lent, they remember their own humanity, vulerable to temptation, just like Jesus in the wilderness.

Ash Wednesday begins Lent to remind believers that only with God’s help can they overcome their sin and suffering as human beings. As Jesus entered into the wilderness, he needed God to defeat the devil. In a similar manner, believers entering Lent, a season of facing sin, need a reminder of their mortality, Ash Wednesday, to encourage their reliance on God.

Jesus calls on God for help to bring him through difficulties in the desert. Ash Wednesday is designed to remind believers that they, too, are vulnerable and need God’s help. Believers wear ashes on their forehead to remind themselves of their mortality as they journey into the Lenten season.

On Ash Wednesday, Christians attend a church service where a minister or another Christian will mark believers’ foreheads with ashes (imposition of ashes) and utter a variation of, “remember you are but dust, and to dust you shall return.”

The ashes remind believers that they will die and will literally rot away without God’s gift of eternal life, which Christians believes comes from Jesus Christ. The believer then leaves the service, marked with a symbol of her or his humanity, as an invitation for penance (reflecting on one’s sins and asking God for help).

Jesus died and rose again, in the Christian tradition, to save those who confessed their sins, essentially those who are human. Being human is a necessary condition for God’s salvation.

Ash Wednesday is a time for Christians to remember their own mortality and ask for God’s help, just as Jesus did in the wilderness, so that they might be saved through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Christian season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday.

The date of Ash Wednesday varies each year according to the date of Easter. It is always six-and-a-half weeks before Easter. The earliest possible date of Ash Wednesday is 4 February and the latest possible date is 10 March.

What is Lent?

Lent is a Christian Festival.

Lent is the time when Christians prepare for Easter by thinking of things they
have done wrong.

The forty days (not counting Sundays), @Earthgirl, before Easter is known as Lent. This is the time of year in England when the days begin to lengthen with the coming of Spring.

The weeks of Lent were once the time when new Christians, who were to
be baptized on Easter Eve, were taught about the Christian faith and life.
Those who had already been baptized thought again about the promises
they had once made and promise to be true to them. Lent was a time for
spring-cleaning lives, as well as homes.

Why are Sundays not counted in the 40 days?
Sundays are always a day of celebration in the Christian church and so they cannot be included in the 40 days of Lent. Sundays commemorate the Resurrection.

When does Lent begin?
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, the day after Pancake Day and , six and a half weeks before Easter Day. The last week of Lent begins with Palm Sunday, which celebrates the day Jesus entered Jerusalem and the people lay down palms at his feet.

When does Lent end?
Lent lasts for 40 days and ends the day before Easter Sunday, which is known as Holy Saturday.

Sundays are not counted in the forty days. (Find out why further down the page.)

In the Roman Catholic Church, Lent officially ends at sundown on Holy Thursday (Maundy
Thursday), with the beginning of the mass of the Lord’s Supper.

Why does Lent last for 40 days?
The 40 days mark the 40 years of the Israelites going through the desert and the traditional
40 days of Jesus fasting in the desert.
What happens during Lent?
Fasting
During Lent, Christians used to fast (give up food) but now a days some people
try to give up their favourite food, such as chocolate, and not giving into
temptation. Others might give up all dairy products. The Orthodox Church
keeps Lent more strictly and people give up both meat and dairy products.
Lent is a time when Christians remember the 40 days and nights Jesus spent alone in
the desert without food being tempted by the Devil. Jesus used this time to prepare for
His work by fasting and praying.
Bible Study
Many churches hold special Lent services. In some towns the churches of different
denominations join together in groups to discuss and share their Christian faith.
Fasting in different Religions
Different religions fast for different reasons. Sometimes people fast because they
believe that suffering makes them closer to God. Fasting is believed to
concentrate the mind on holy thoughts. There are some religions such as
Buddhism and Sikhism, that don’t encourage fasting because they don’t believe it
helps deepen religious strength.
Jews
Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement when Jews believe they are punished for
past sins and can pray for the future. It is a solemn time when Jews feel they
have to show they want forgiveness for their sins by practising self-discipline.
They do this by fasting and praying.
Muslims
Ramadan is the month when Muslims fast from before sunrise to sunset. It
remembers the time when the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)
received the first revelation of the Qur’an, the Muslim holy book, from the Angel
Jibril.
Hindus
Hindus fast at festivals and at other times to show devotion to the Hindu deities
(gods). They fast on certain days of the month such as Purnima (full moon) and
Ekadasi (the 11th day of the fortnight) and also on certain days of the week
depending on their favourite God and its special day.

Many sources, but main source

I like P. Z. Myers’ analysis!

When I was a Christian, it had significance, but I gave up Christianity for Lent one year and it stuck.

Lent always falls on a Wednesday because Easter is always on a Sunday. I’m not sure if that was answered in seazen’s response or not.

hawaii jake That is just too precious! You made me laugh so hard!!!! Thanks

seazen What does Lent mean to you? Do you “observe” it?

@Earthgirl : I’m glad to be of service. :-)

It means that after Mass, I will have ashes in the form of a cross on my forehead.

Anything beyond that answer will most likely lead to ridicule of my religion as it usually does here

SpatzieLover Hell with ‘em. I want to hear what it means to you! Even if you don’t fall for all the dogma, hook, line and sinker ;)

I like Artie Lang’s Ash Wednesday story http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdGpmzrsknY

Makes it seem pretty ridiculous.

@Earthgirl It means nothing to me. I was curious and shared the info.

It’s a serious remembrance for Christians and is indicated by a sign marked on a believer’s forehead with ashes from the previous year’s Good Friday service. For me, who is not a believer, it’s a day to remember not to make comments about smudges on the foreheads of friends. I think it’s a message to enhance a sense of humility many of us lack. If there was a greeting for the celebration, like happy new year, I would greet them with it.

Having just returned home from Ash Wednesday service, there are a number of ideas floating around in my head. I grew up hearing the annual exhortation of “remember, oh man, that thou art dust and unto dust though shalt return.” It meant little to me in a significant way until my father’s funeral when I was 18 and the priest said the same words as he threw clods of dirt in on my Dad’s casket. I harkened back to having heard the words for all those years leading up to this experience and I came to have an entirely new appreciation for Ash Wednesday. For me, it is a reminder that life is short and that God is giving me 40 days to get rid of the stuff that is holding me back from living the life I want to live. I think of it as a “do-over” of faith. It is not so much about giving up something as it is sitting with the sense of emptiness.

Whether someone has a faith tradition or not, the opportunity to take an amount of time to look at yourself and your progress as a human being can certainly be meaningful. Experiencing such a time of self-reflection in the presence of others who are equally self-reflective just creates a different sense of safety for me. Sitting with ones’ self can bring up plenty of lonely moments and can stir up old hurts and stuff we thought we got rid of. It can be an opportunity for personal growth.

@SpatzieLover – Most of the time when religion is mocked here, I perceive it as being because of beliefs that fall outside the realm of what we here on the other side see as being possible. However, and I hope I am not alone here, the good things that religion can do for people (such as making them more aware of their mortality, of encouraging reflection on how to be a better person, of being aware of one’s misdeeds and how to atone for them) are the part of religion that I wish more people took up, whether they believe in God or not. If some part of their faith inspires Christians to act more like the Christ I’ve read about in the Bible, I would support and encourage that all the way.

In Australia Ash Wednesday refers to something entirely different.

I always forget about it and say “oops you’ve got dirt on your forehead” like a real dummy.
But Ash Wednesday—or Mardi Gras—to me means party party party!
Why aren’t Mardi Gras festivals called Fat Tuesday ?

oh stupid me—mardi gras is fat tuesday in french. nevermind.

Yes, it’s the beginning of Lent. It has meaning to Christians.

@anartist They are known as Fat Tuesday Festivals/Parties/Celebrations in places other than Louisiana-In areas of Milwaukee it’s also known as Paczki day—(pronounced Poonchkey)

I was always taught that Ash Wednesday signified that we came from dust and will return to dust to be with our Creator. The 40 days were originally suppose to be days of fasting like Jesus did in the desert, It was only on Fridays that we would fast and then it changed to simply giving up red meat on Fridays till lent was over.
Penance is typically done and we would usually renew our vow to walk with Christ and renounce the devil and all his temptations and to ask God to continue to watch over us. Pretty much the same vows when taken when one does Confirmation and the vows god parents take for a child at baptism. Only then the godparents also offer to help raise the child in the Christian faith.
Although I will say at a recent baptism only the part about helping the child to grow in the Christian faith was said. The godparents did not renew their own vows to God as was done about 25 years ago when my kids where baptized.
Sometimes though different priest do different things, so who knows.

Ash Wednesday means day 2 of the Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football, which has been played in the town for 900 years. It’s a wonderful event, of controlled anarchy, that takes over the town for two days.

I usually just feel a little sick from eating too many pancakes on Shrove Tuesday

I guess I will answer my own question too,lol. Ash Wednesday is a day when, if I try to remember that life is short and try to make the most of it and not get bogged down in petty problems. And also to keep pursuing my dreams of the life I wish to have, what I consider to be most important. Self knowledge is important to me, and peak experiences are important to me. When I feel “stuck” I am the only one who can really give myself a push. First I have to realize that I am stuck!
Today, the day after Ash Wednesday, I went to a memorial service for a man I worked with, I did not know him well, who died at the age of 36 of a brain tumor. It was the most beautiful service I have ever been to. It was a tiny little church in Brooklyn. The service was simple. There were no grand flower arrangements or expensive casket. Just the stories of friends and family whose lives he had touched. He had suffered for so long, 6 years, and through it all, the one thing his friends kept stressing was how he never complained, he kept being grateful for all the good things he had in life. He kept being someone you could depend on to help out in times of need. He kept joking and smiling even through the worst of his suffering. It was all very inspiring. So when the reading came to the words “ashes to ashes and dust to dust” it had double resonance for me coming the day after Ash Wednesday.

In Germany we’ve got the so-called Political Ash Wednesday, a tradition that started in Bavaria in the 16th century. It’s the only day when it’s politically correct for political parties to resort to extreme polemics and really make fun of each other. I like the idea. Because the other 364 days in a democracy should be about competing ideas.