Which religions receive ashes

Each year, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. In , Ash Wednesday falls on February Lent is a day season not counting Sundays marked by repentance, fasting, reflection, and ultimately celebration. What is Ash Wednesday and What Happens? Have you ever noticed how once a year, usually in February or March, there are a lot of people walking around with an ash cross on their foreheads?

If you want to learn more about this important day in the liturgical calendar and why so many celebrate Ash Wednesday and Lent, read on! This happens during a special Ash Wednesday service. During Mass for Catholics or worship service for Protestants , the priest or pastor will usually share a sermon that is penitential and reflective in nature. The mood is solemn - many services will have long periods of silence and worshipers will often leave the service in silence.

Usually, there is a responsive passage of Scripture, usually centered around confession, read aloud about the leader and congregation.

Attendees will experience communal confession, as well as moments where they are prompted to silently confess sins and pray. After all of this, the congregation will be invited to receive the ashes on their foreheads.

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Catholics are not supposed to eat meat on Ash Wednesday. They also are expected to give up meat on Fridays during Lent. Catholics also are expected to fast on Ash Wednesday. Fasting means consuming only one full meal a day; two smaller meals that don't together add up to a full meal also are allowed.

Children and the elderly are exempt from the fasting requirement on Ash Wednesday and during Lent. Early Christians in Rome were sprinkled with ashes during Lent, but the Ash Wednesday practice of placing ashes on the forehead of Christians didn't begin until the Middle Ages.

Ash Wednesday falls on a different day each year, because it is dependent on the date of Easter. It can occur as early as Feb. Ash Wednesday always occurs six and a half weeks before Easter. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Christians bearing the sign of the cross on their forehead today will be sharing a formal practice that dates back over a thousand years, and more than that — in a tradition that goes back much earlier.

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