The first day of the season of Lent.
The OT records the application of ash as a sign of penitence and mourning (2 Sam 13:1; Est 4:1; Job 2:8). On this basis there arose in many early churches the practice of marking penitents on the forehead with ashes as a sign of their penitence. Ash Wednesday derived its name from this practice in the Roman Catholic Church when the congregation were so marked with the ashes from burning the palms used on Palm Sunday as they begin the season of Lent, with the priest uttering the accompanying words, "Remember that you are ash (or dust), and to ash (dust) you shall return."
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