Ash Wednesday 2023: When is Ash Wednesday? Know the date, history and significance of the first day of Lent

Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting for many Christians. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and falls on the first day of Lent, a 40-day period of preparation and fasting before Easter. Unlike Christmas, Ash Wednesday and Easter do not fall on a fixed date. Traditionally Lent begins on the Monday of the seventh week before Easter and ends on a Friday that is nine days before Easter, according to Britannica.com.

When is Ash Wednesday?

This year, Ash Wednesday falls on February 22, Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday History and Significance:

Believers in Christ around the world observe Ash Wednesday as a time for prayers, acts of charity, and mortifications. During this period, some also give up things they like as they fast, including their favourite food items, watching television, or social media. It is also the period when the faithful practice good deeds, such as almsgiving, and be particularly close to the needy and the suffering. On Ash Wednesday, priests apply ash on the forehead of each person coming to the Church, saying – ‘Thou art dust and unto dust thou shall return’.

Meanwhile, Ash Wednesday started in ancient Rome, where sinners wore sack clothes and covered themselves with ash as an act of public penance. Easter concludes the 40 days period of fasting – Lent. Holy Thursday – the celebration of Jesus’s last supper and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday is a part of the Holy Week which ends on Easter Sunday.

In the early Christian Church, the length of the Lent celebrations varied, but eventually, it began six weeks (42 days) before Easter. This provided only 36 days of fasting (excluding Sundays). In the 7th century, four days were added before the first Sunday in Lent to establish 40 fasting days in imitation of Jesus Christ’s fast in the desert.