What Is Ash Wednesday? 2023 Guide for Christians the leader and congregation.

Attendees will experience

Celebrating communal confession and moments where they are
prompted to confess sins silently and pray.
Each year, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent.
In 2023, Ash Wednesday will be February 22nd. Ash After all of this, the congregation will be invited to
Wednesday focuses the Christian’s heart on repentance receive the ashes on their foreheads. Usually, the priest
and prayer, usually through personal and communal or pastor will dip his finger into the ashes, spread them
confession. in a cross pattern on the forehead, and say,
“From dust you came and to dust you will return.”
Each year, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent
and is always 46 days before Easter Sunday. Lent is a 40- Source and Meaning of the Ashes
day season (not counting Sundays) marked by
In many congregations, the ashes are prepared by
repentance, fasting, reflection, and ultimately
burning palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday.
celebration. The 40-day period represents Christ’s time
On Palm Sunday, churches bless and hand out palm
of temptation in the wilderness, where he fasted and
branches to attendees, referencing the Gospels’
where Satan tempted him. Lent asks believers to set
account of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when
aside a time each year for similar fasting, marking an
onlookers lay palm branches on his path.
intentional season of focus on Christ’s life, ministry,
sacrifice, and resurrection. The ashes of this holiday symbolize two main things:
death and repentance. “Ashes are equivalent to dust,
Who Celebrates Ash Wednesday?
and human flesh is composed of dust or clay (Genesis
Have you ever noticed, usually in February or March, a 2:7), and when a human corpse decomposes, it returns
lot of people walk around with an ash cross on their to dust or ash.”
foreheads once a year? You probably knew it had
“When we come forward to receive ashes on Ash
something to do with Lent, but you weren’t sure why
Wednesday, we are saying that we are sorry for our sins
the ash cross was significant.
and that we want to use the season of Lent to correct
Or maybe, you grew up in a Catholic or Protestant our faults, purify our hearts, control our desires and
church that held Ash Wednesday services each year, so grow in holiness so we will be prepared to celebrate
you’re already familiar with the service but aren’t too Easter with great joy” (The CatholicSpirit.com).
sure about the history of Ash Wednesday and Lent and
With this focus on our own mortality and sinfulness,
what they have to do with the Christian faith. Read on if
Christians can enter into the Lent season solemnly while
you want to learn more about this important day in the
also looking forward in greater anticipation and joy to
liturgical calendar and why so many celebrate Ash
the message of Easter and Christ’s ultimate victory over
Wednesday and Lent!
sin and death.
Often called the Day of Ashes, Ash Wednesday starts
When Is Ash Wednesday in 2023?
Lent by focusing the Christian’s heart on repentance
and prayer, usually through personal and communal Here are the most significant dates of Lent and when
confession. This happens during a unique Ash they will occur in 2023:
Wednesday service.
Important Brief Overview of
What Happens on Ash Wednesday? 2023 Date
Dates of Lent Significance
During Mass (for Catholics) or worship service (for The beginning of Lent, a day
Protestants), the priest or pastor will usually share a Ash February
of reflection and repentance
penitential and reflective sermon. The mood is solemn - Wednesday 22, 2023
from sin
many services will have long periods of silence and
worshipers will often leave the service in silence. Celebrates Jesus's
April 2,
Palm Sunday triumphant entry into
Usually, there is a responsive passage of Scripture, 2023
Jerusalem
usually centered around confession, read aloud about
 April 2 - Is Ash Wednesday only for Catholics or Protestants?
The week leading up to
Holy Week April 8,
Easter Catholic, Orthodox, and many (but not all) Protestants
2023
appreciate and observe Lent. Though Lent is not named
Commemorates the foot or observed in the Bible, as Christianity Today notes,
Maundy washing and Last Supper of April 6, “the path of Lent—prayer, fasting, and generosity over
Thursday Jesus Christ with the 2023 a period of time—is heavily emphasized by the authors
Apostles of and characters in the Bible, including Jesus. The Bible
commands a lifestyle of worship and devotion that
Commemorates the looks considerably like Lent. Therefore, while the word
April 7,
Good Friday crucifixion of Jesus and his is absent in the Bible, the reality of Lent is woven
2023
death at Calvary throughout the whole of Scripture, as we have
discovered.”
Celebrates the resurrection
April 9,
Easter Sunday of Jesus from the dead and In his Gospel Coalition article Evangelicals Embracing
2023
His victory over sin and death (and Rejecting) Lent, Trevin Wax gives us an important
reminder regardless of whether we personally observe
Lent:
The History of Lent and Ash Wednesday
“I hardly think the church is suffering from too much
The history and beginnings of Lent aren’t clear. fasting,” Wax says. “But I do think the church is
According to Britannica.com, Lent has likely been suffering from too much self-righteousness (and I
observed: “since apostolic times, though the practice include myself in this indictment). Lent – being either
was not formalized until the First Council of Nicaea in for or against – can become a way of climbing up on to
325 CE.” Christian scholars note that Lent became more the pedestal.”
regularized after the legalization of Christianity in A.D.
He goes on to say, “What is more important than the
313. St. Irenaeus, Pope St. Victor I, and St. Athanasius all
practices we take on is the heart attitude behind them.
seem to have written about Lent during their ministries.
If there’s anything we should give up this time of year,
Most agree that “by the end of the fourth century, the
it’s our sense of superiority either to those outside the
40-day period of Easter preparation known as Lent
church or those inside the church who do things
existed, and that prayer and fasting constituted its
differently than we do.”
primary spiritual exercises.”
Bible Verses for Ash Wednesday
Is there Fasting on Ash Wednesday?
If you’d like to start thinking through and observing Lent
Regarding the exact rules and practices of Lent, those
and Ash Wednesday, here are a few verses specific to
have changed over the years. “In the early centuries,
Ash Wednesday to meditate and reflect on, and then a
fasting rules were strict, as they still are in Eastern
prayer you can pray to observe the day.
churches,” notes Britannica.com. “One meal a day was
allowed in the evening, and meat, fish, eggs, and butter Our Creation: Genesis 2:7 - Then the LORD God formed
were forbidden. The Eastern church also restricts the a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into
use of wine, oil, and dairy products. In the West, these his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a
fasting rules have gradually been relaxed. The strict law living being.
of fasting among Roman Catholics was dispensed with
Our Curse: Genesis 3:19 - By the sweat of your brow
during World War II, and only Ash Wednesday and Good
you will eat your food until you return to the ground
Friday are now kept as Lenten fast days.”
since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to
dust you will return.”

Our Cry of Repentance: Psalm 51:7- 10 - Cleanse me whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the
with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my
sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure Grant us the strength to resist temptation and
heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. the wisdom to discern right from wrong. May our
fasting be a tangible expression of our hunger for
ASSIGNMENT #08 – Lhaira Xyries T. Fernando
righteousness, as we seek to align our lives with your
Genesis 2:7 divine will. With contrite hearts, we ask for your
7 Then the Lord God formed a man[a] from the dust of forgiveness, knowing that you are ever ready to
the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of embrace us in your boundless love. Help us to forgive
life, and the man became a living being. others as you have forgiven us, releasing the burden of
resentment and opening ourselves to the healing power
Genesis 3:19 of reconciliation.
19 By the sweat of your brow
In the midst of our penitence, grant us a
you will eat your food
renewed sense of hope. May the ashes we wear serve
until you return to the ground,
as a reminder not only of our mortality but also of the
since from it you were taken;
promise of resurrection and eternal life through your
for dust you are
Son, Jesus Christ. Lord, as we journey through these
and to dust you will return.”
forty days of Lent, guide our steps and deepen our faith.
Help us to seek your face in prayer, to serve others with
Psalm 51:7-10
selflessness, and to grow in the virtues of compassion,
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
generosity, and kindness.
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; May this Ash Wednesday be a sacred threshold,
let the bones you have crushed rejoice. leading us into a season of profound transformation.
9 Hide your face from my sins May the ashes upon our foreheads be a visible sign of
and blot out all my iniquity. our commitment to turn away from sin and to walk in
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, the light of your love. We offer this prayer in the name
and renew a steadfast spirit within m of Jesus, our Redeemer and Sustainer, who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever
PRAYER FOR ASH WEDNESDAY and ever.

Loving and Merciful God, Amen.

On this sacred day of Ash Wednesday, we

gather before you, humbled and aware of our frailty. As
we embark on this solemn journey of reflection and
repentance, we seek your guidance and grace. With
ashes upon our foreheads, we acknowledge our
mortality and the brevity of our earthly existence. In
this poignant moment, help us recognize the fragility of
life and the urgency to embrace your divine purpose.

Lord, in your infinite compassion, cleanse our

hearts and minds. Illuminate the areas where we have
strayed from your path, and grant us the courage to
confront our shortcomings with honesty and humility.
As we fast and abstain, remind us of the deeper hunger
within our souls—the hunger for truth, for justice, for
love. May this holy season be an opportunity for
spiritual nourishment and growth, as we draw closer to
you and our fellow pilgrims on this journey.