Today, Christians all over the world are observing Ash Wednesday which is the first day of Lent -- a period of fasting, prayer and repentance based on the 40 days of temptation that Jesus spent fasting in the desert.
Ash Wednesday, which ends with the Celebration of Easter, is a common practice among Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, and Methodists who use this time to reflect upon their lives and re-commit themselves back to God and the Church. On this day, ashes are used to make the sign of the cross on participants' foreheads as a reminder and celebration of human mortality along with morning and repentance to God. The ashes are usually applied by a pastor or priest during a church service who speaks the Bible verse, "For dust you are and to dust you shall return" from Genesis 3:19. This is what God said to Adam and Eve, the first people, after they ate of the forbidden fruit and were punished with the inevitability of death.
The ashes are gathered from the burning of the palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday. In the blessing of the ashes, four ancient prayers are recited, the ashes are sprinkled with holy water and then scented with incense.
The name Ash Wednesday stems from the name "dies cinerum" or "the day of ashes." The ceremony originated around the eighth century during biblical times when people used sackcloth and ashes to humble themselves. Back then, a priest would bless them and sprinkle ashes over them while they recited the Seven Penitential Psalms. Afterword, they would leave the church and for the next forty days strive for repentance and absolution. They would return to church on Maundy Thursday to receive Communion from the priest.
Christianity advocates living a life of humility and repentance. As a result, many use the custom of Ash Wednesday as a reminder to refocus their life on following Jesus.
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