Ash Wednesday 2017 is coming soon and it marks one of the most important days for Catholics all around the world.
Christians will rejoice as March 1 rolls around as it marks a day in which Lent begins, which is a holiday marked by suffering in order to channel the same pain that Jesus endured in his time. Ash Wednesday is marked by fasting and Lent marks 40 days because Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert, according to Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians and Roman Catholics.
On Ash Wednesday, everyone’s forehead is marked with a cross made of ashes from palm branches with one of the following phrases: “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” or “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
The traditional way of celebrating Lent revolves around giving up food from sunrise to sunset and only eating during the hours of night due to the aforementioned suffering of Jesus. However, modern iterations of the holiday have changed quite a bit as many are not willing to give up this much.
Instead, many choose to give up a vice or habit from their everyday life for the 40-day period, including alcohol, a certain food and perhaps even social media. The end of Ash Wednesday is Easter, which is the time of celebration that marks the resurrection of Jesus as described in the New Testament.
