Ash Wednesday 2021

This Year Ash Wednesday Is On

Wednesday 17th February 2021

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What Ash Wednesday Means.

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Ash Wednesday is a Christian holy day of prayer, fasting, and repentance. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and falls on the first day of Lent,the six weeks of penitence before Easter.

Ash Wednesday is observed by many Christians, including Anglicans,Episcopalians, Lutherans, Old Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics and some Baptists.

Ash Wednesday derives its name from the placing of repentance ashes on the foreheads of participants to either the words "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" or the dictum "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

The ashes may be prepared by burning palm leaves from the previous year's Palm Sunday celebrations. Because it is the first day of Lent, many Christians, on Ash Wednesday, often begin marking a Lenten calendar, praying a Lenten daily devotional, and abstaining from a luxury that they will not partake in until Easter Sunday arrives

Many Christian denominations emphasize fasting, as well as abstinence during the season of Lent and in particular, on its first day, Ash Wednesday.

The First Council of Nicæa spoke of Lent as a period of fasting for forty days, in preparation for Eastertide. In many places, Christians historically abstained from food for a whole day until the evening, and at sunset, Western Christians traditionally broke the Lenten fast, which is often known as the Black Fast.

In India and Pakistan, many Christians continue this practice of fasting until sunset on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, with some fasting in this manner throughout the whole season of Lent.