You may find some people with ash marks on their foreheads today. It is a mark people that practice Christianity receive at mass on Ash Wednesday. Here's what to know about Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.
Why do people get ashes on Ash Wednesday?
The ashes represent a person acknowledging and showing remorse for their sins, as Johnston said the tradition dates back to 1091. After a person receives their ashes, they aren't required to leave it on or take it off following Mass, but people typically leave them on for the rest of the day. The ashes typically come from the palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday, which are burned and blessed before they are used. Ash Wednesday is always six and a half weeks before Easter. Since Ash Wednesday is dependent on the date of Easter, it can occur as early as Feb. 4 or as late as March 10.
The six-week period is meant to be celebrated with self-sacrifice, prayer and other religious activities leading up to Easter, the day believed to be when Jesus Christ rose from the dead to sit at the right hand of God. Johnston calls Lent a "period of purification and enlightenment."
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