Each year, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and is always 46 days before Easter Sunday. Ash Wednesday begins the 40-day Lent season (not counting Sundays) marked by repentance, fasting, reflection, and ultimately celebration. The 40-day period represents Christ’s time of temptation in the wilderness, where he fasted and where Satan tempted him. Lent asks believers to set aside a time each year for similar fasting, marking an intentional season of focus on Christ’s life, ministry, sacrifice, and resurrection.
Table of Contents
- Who Celebrates Ash Wednesday?
- What Happens on Ash Wednesday?
- Source and Meaning of the Ashes Used
- When is Ash Wednesday in 2025?
- What is Lent?
- What Are You Not Allowed to Eat on Ash Wednesday?
- Who Can Participate on Ash Wednesday?
- Verses to Reflect on for Ash Wednesday
- A Prayer for Ash Wednesday
Who Celebrates Ash Wednesday?
Have you ever noticed, usually in February or March, a lot of people walk around with an ash cross on their foreheads once a year? You probably knew it had something to do with Lent, but you weren’t sure why the ash cross was significant.
Or maybe, you grew up in a Catholic or Protestant church that held Ash Wednesday services each year, so you’re already familiar with the service but aren’t too sure about the history of Ash Wednesday and Lent and what they have to do with the Christian faith. Read on if you want to learn more about this important day in the liturgical calendar and why so many celebrate Ash Wednesday and Lent!
The observance of Ash Wednesday is most common in the Western Christian tradition, including Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, and some Protestant denominations.
Ash Wednesday is a Christian holy day that carries significant meaning as Christians turn their hearts towards God in repentance and prayer. The symbolism of Ash Wednesday and Lent is remembering our mortality, need for salvation, and the period of temptation and testing that Jesus faced in the desert.
The name "Ash Wednesday" is derived from placing ashes on believers' foreheads in the shape of a cross often accompanied by the words "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return," emphasizing mortality and the need for repentance.
Often called the Day of Ashes, Ash Wednesday starts Lent by focusing the Christian’s heart on repentance and prayer, usually through personal and communal confession. This happens during a unique Ash Wednesday service.
What is the meaning of Ash Wednesday and what happens?
Photo credit:©Unsplash/Ahna Ziegler
During Mass (for Catholics) or worship service (for Protestants), the priest or pastor usually shares a penitential (expressing sorrow) and reflective sermon. 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 centered around confession, read aloud about the leader and congregation. Attendees will experience communal confession and moments where they are prompted to confess sins silently and pray.
After all of this, the congregation will be invited to receive the ashes on their foreheads. Usually, the priest or pastor will put his finger into the ashes, spread them in a cross pattern on the forehead, and say, “From dust you came and to dust you will return.”
Download your FREE copy of our 40-Day Lent and Easter Devotional - filled with daily Scriptures, reflections, and prayers for the Lent season.
Where do the ashes come from and what do they symbolize?
In many congregations, the ashes are prepared by burning palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday. On Palm Sunday, churches bless and hand out palm branches to attendees, referencing the Gospels’ account of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when onlookers lay palm branches on his path.
The ashes of this holiday symbolize two main things: death and repentance. “Ashes are equivalent to dust, and human flesh is composed of dust or clay (Genesis 2:7), and when a human corpse decomposes, it returns to dust or ash.”
With this focus on our mortality and sinfulness, Christians can enter into the Lent season solemnly while also looking forward in greater anticipation and joy to the message of Easter and Christ’s ultimate victory over sin and death.
When is Ash Wednesday in 2025?
Let's take a look at Ash Wednesday in 2025, the start of Lent, and the most significant dates of Lent:
| Important Dates of Lent | Brief Overview of Significance | 2025 Date |
| Ash Wednesday | The beginning of Lent, a day of reflection and repentance from sin | March 5, 2025 |
| Palm Sunday | Celebrates Jesus's triumphant entry into Jerusalem | April 13, 2025 |
| Holy Week | The week leading up to Easter | April 13 - April 19, 2025 |
| Maundy Thursday | Commemorates the foot washing and Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles | April 17, 2025 |
| Good Friday | Commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary | April 18, 2025 |
| Easter Sunday | Celebrates the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and His victory over sin and death | April 19, 2025 |
What is Lent?
Lent is the annual period in the Christian liturgical calendar leading up to Easter. Observed by denominations such as Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, and Methodists, Lent lasts for 40 days, beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter. This period commemorates the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness and involves fasting, prayer, and penance to prepare for Easter, which celebrates Jesus' resurrection. This year, Lent ends on Thursday, April 6.
During Lent, Christians give up certain luxuries, habits, or foods in order to focus on deepening their faith and say no to temptation just as Jesus withstood temptatoin for 40 days.
Lent's tradition dates back to apostolic times and was formalized during the First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE. The term "Lent" comes from the Middle English word “lente,” meaning springtime, signaling the arrival of spring.
Is there Fasting on Ash Wednesday? What are you not allowed to eat?
Regarding the exact rules and practices of Lent, those have changed over the years. “In the early centuries, fasting rules were strict, as they still are in Eastern churches,” notes Britannica.com. “One meal a day was allowed in the evening, and meat, fish, eggs, and butter were forbidden. The Eastern church also restricts the use of wine, oil, and dairy products. In the West, these fasting rules have gradually been relaxed. The strict law of fasting among Roman Catholics was dispensed with during World War II, and only Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are now kept as Lenten fast days.”
Generally speaking, fasting on Ash Wednesday involves abstaining from meat and, for adults between the ages of 18 and 59, limiting meals to one full meal and two smaller meals that together do not equal a full meal.
Do Catholics eat meat on Ash Wednesday?
Catholics do not eat meat on Ash Wednesday nor on the Fridays of Lent. In place of meat, Catholics often eat fish or other non-meat alternatives on Fridays in Lent. Abstaining from meat on Fridays commemorates Good Friday, the day Jesus Christ was crucified.
Who can participate in Ash Wednesday?
Catholic, Orthodox, and many (but not all) Protestants appreciate and observe Lent. Though Lent is not named or observed in the Bible, the practices of Lent - prayer, fasting, and generosity over a period of time - is heavily emphasized by the authors of and characters in the Bible, including Jesus. While the word "Lent" may not be in Scripture, the lifestyle of worship and devotion to God is throughout it's books.
Anyone can celebrate and practice the observance of Ash Wednesday and Lent. What matters is your heart and attitude toward God. Lent can be a beautiful opportunity to reconnect and recommit to God.
Catholics: For Catholics, receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday is a common practice. It is an important part of their faith tradition, marking the beginning of Lent. All baptized Catholics, regardless of age, are welcome to receive ashes as a sign of penance and renewal.
Non-Catholics: Non-Catholics are also welcome to participate in the Ash Wednesday ritual. Many Christian denominations observe Ash Wednesday and incorporate the imposition of ashes into their services. Even those who do not belong to a church or are not baptized are generally welcome to receive ashes. The practice is often seen as an invitation to reflect on one's life and mortality, and to seek spiritual renewal.
Children: Children, even infants, can receive ashes on Ash Wednesday. For children, this ritual serves as an early introduction to the themes of Lent and the concept of repentance. Parents often bring their children to receive ashes to include them in the religious observance and to start teaching them about the traditions and values of their faith.
Respectful Participation: For those who do not wish to receive ashes, attending the service can still be a meaningful experience. Observing the ritual can provide insight into its significance and offer a moment of reflection and solidarity with those who are participating.
Bible Verses to Reflect on for Ash Wednesday
If you’d like to start thinking through and observing Lent and Ash Wednesday, here are a few verses specific to Ash Wednesday to meditate and reflect on, and then a prayer you can pray to observe the day.
- Our Creation: Genesis 2:7 - Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
- Our Curse: Genesis 3:19 - By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
- Our Cry of Repentance: Psalm 51:7- 10 - Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Read more Ash Wednesday Bible Verses for Reflection
A Prayer for Ash Wednesday:
Lord, Holy One, have mercy on us. We confess our sins to you. We have fallen short of your glory and without your mercy and grace, we would be dust. We repent now. Lord, as we enter this Lenten season, be near us. Help us, by your Holy Spirit, to feel the proper conviction and repentance for our sin. Help us, by your Spirit, to have the strength to overcome the enemy.
Thank you, Lord, that Easter is coming! Death has no sting, no victory, because of Jesus! Glory and honor and praise to His name! Thank you for rescuing us. Help us keep the weight and the joy of this season in our hearts as we move through the next several weeks. Help us bear the good fruit of your Spirit.
Thank you that the ashes on our forehead do not symbolize our ultimate reality. From dust, we might have been formed, but our bodies, our spirits, ourselves, await beautiful redemption and the restoration of all things. Help us long and look forward to that day, and let it come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.
Read more Prayers for Ash Wednesday
Related Resource: A Podcast to Guide You Through the Season of Lent
This guided Scripture meditation is for the first week of Lent. Listen and subscribe to the So Much More Podcast with Jodie Niznik to hear every episode in her Lenten series. In this account from Matthew 14, Jesus demonstrated that in His hands, what seems insufficient becomes more than enough. This serves as a beautiful reminder to trust in God's abundant provision in our own lives. As you move through this guided meditation, you will be invited to let the Spirit lead you to what he has for you and to reflect on areas where God is inviting you to trust him more.
Sources:
- Britannica.com, Lent, The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- CatholicEducation.com, History of Lent, Fr. William Saunders, (2002)
- TheGospelCoalition.org, Evangelicals Embracing (and Rejecting) Lent, Trevin Wax (2014)
Photo credit: ©Thinkstock/czarny_bez
Learn more about the meaning and significance behind the Easter holiday and Holy Week celebrations:
What is Lent? and When Does Lent Start?
What is Ash Wednesday? and When is Ash Wednesday?
What is Palm Sunday?
What is Maundy Thursday?
What is Good Friday? and When is Good Friday?
What is Holy Saturday?
What is Easter? and When is Easter Sunday?
Easter Bible Verses
The Resurrection of Jesus
Easter Prayers
