Ash Wednesday: ashes on your head and into Lent

After carnival comes fasting: in the Roman Catholic Church, Ash Wednesday marks the end of extravagant carnival celebrations and the beginning of Lent. In the Roman Catholic Church, this is also known as the Easter penitential period and serves to prepare for the most important of all Christian festivals – Easter.

beginning of Lent

The exact date of the “Day of Ashes” is therefore based on the feast of Christ’s resurrection: calculated backwards from Easter Sunday, Ash Wednesday falls on the 46th day before Easter every year. 46 days, although, as is well known, the talk is of the 40-day Lent. Lent includes six Sundays, which are not counted as days of fasting.

Signs of purification, penance and impermanence

The term “Ash Wednesday” is no coincidence: it goes back to the rite of sprinkling ashes and the cross of ashes. Originating around the 10th century, this tradition has been preserved in the Catholic liturgy to this day. “Right from the start, the idea of ​​penance was in the foreground during Lent. Before the introduction of private confession, the penitents, dressed in penitential robes, confessed their sins publicly to the bishop and sprinkled ashes on their heads,” explains Michael Kraml from the Diocese of Linz the beginnings of this custom. As a symbol of penitence and purification, ash was at home throughout the Orient.

Today, a cross made of ashes is drawn on the forehead of those attending an Ash Wednesday service. The words spoken – “Repent and believe the gospel” and “Remember, man, that you are dust and to dust you shall return” – refer to the meaning of the ancient symbol. Traditionally, the finely ground remains of those palm bushes are used that were burned at the Easter fire last year.

Ash cross “to go”

Due to the pandemic, in the past two years it has been possible to receive the cross of ashes – so to speak “to take away” – outside of the services. This offer is available again this year in Linz: in the Landstraße in front of the Ursulinenkirche, between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., you have the opportunity to pick up a cross of ashes and short reflection texts.