Four Things You Might Not Know About Ash Wednesday

Every year some Christians from certain denominations observe Ash Wednesday heralding 40 days of the Lent season.

The practice of marking worshippers’ foreheads with ashes in the shape of a cross is one of Christianity’s most visible rituals, but it’s just one component of the holy day. Whether or not you observe it, here are some facts about Ash Wednesday worth knowing.

Not all Christians observe Ash Wednesday

While Ash Wednesday is perhaps most closely associated with Catholicism, there are many Christian sects that recognize it, including Lutherans, Methodists, Episcopalians (Anglicans), Presbyterians, and some Baptists. There are also Christians that refrain from Ash Wednesday celebrations. Mormons, Evangelicals, and Pentecostal Christians are some of the denominations that don’t take part in the holy day.

The ash has biblical significance

The ashes used on Ash Wednesday are meant to represent dust. When receiving ashes on their foreheads, parishioners hear the words: Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return. This is a reference to what God said to Adam when exiling him from the Garden of Eden. This is a reminder to be humble in the face of mortality.

There are rules about what you can eat on the day

Observers of the holy day should limit themselves to one whole meal plus two smaller meals that, when added up, don’t equal a meal they would eat on a normal day. Christians marking Ash Wednesday should also avoid eating meat like they would on Fridays during Lent.

You can get ashes without going to church

Many churches give parishioners the option to take packets of ashes home with them to apply to the foreheads of loved ones who couldn’t make it to the service.

 Receiving ashes isn’t a sacrament, so the rules surrounding it aren’t as strict as they are with something like Holy Communion in the Catholic Church.

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