“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” will be heard by millions of Christians all throughout the world today, Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday marks one of the most popular days on the liturgical calendar of the Catholic church, according to The National Catholic Register.
Today also marks a day in which thousands of people every year learn what Ash Wednesday is, the traditions behind it and more. For the uninitiated — no, students and faculty are not walking around today with dirt on their foreheads, or a foreign substance that they simply are unaware manifested on them.
Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter. Catholics everywhere wear ash crosses on their forehead on this day, which is rooted in the Old Testament, in which ashes were used in to signify repentance, with over forty passages associating ashes with mourning and grief, according to Eastside Catholic.
Father Burke Masters, Mississippi State University alumnus and baseball legend, is followed online by many Catholics nationwide. In his blog written on Ash Wednesday last year, he spoke of how the beginning of the Lenten season calls Catholics to reassess where they are spiritually in preparation for Easter.
“Lent is a time for us to go back to the basics – prayer, fasting and almsgiving – even if we consider ourselves veteran Catholics/Christians. Lent is a time to get into shape spiritually, to be better disciples, to love our neighbor and to prepare for the long year ahead,” Masters wrote.
Aside from the massive uptick in church attendance today, the ash crosses on foreheads and the calls for reflection, Catholics also hold themselves to fasting, including not eating meat today and on all Fridays throughout the rest of Lent, which ends on Good Friday, April 18 this year.
While yearly questions asking what it is on the forehead of many persist, today is the start of a spiritual journey in which millions of people begin their walk toward self-betterment. This will culminate with Easter Sunday on April 20.
