About Ash Wednesday...

I'm sure a lot of people know this ritual but some goes to church accept this ritual without knowing a thing...here are some information about Ash Wednesday...(for Christians only)...

Ash Wednesday, in the calendar of Western Christianity and occurs 46 days before Easter, marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption.

According to the Canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent forty days fasting in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, during which he endured temptation by Satan. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of this forty day liturgical period of prayer and fasting.

Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of adherents as a sign of mourning and repentance to God. The ashes used are typically gathered after the palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday are burned.

RITUAL

At Masses, ashes are imposed on the foreheads of the faithful. The priest, marks the forehead of each participant with black ashes in the shape of a cross, which the worshipper traditionally retains until it wears off. The act echoes the ancient Near Eastern tradition of throwing ashes over one's head to signify repentance before God (as related in the Bible). The priest or minister says one of the following when applying the ashes:

'Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return'

—Genesis 3:19