«Remember man, what dust you are and dust you will return» says God to Adam after original sin because on earth we are only passing through. The ashes scattered today on the heads of the faithful depart from this biblical reference. If there is who does penance already today, there are also those who still consider it the last day of the Carnival and those who, like the Milanese, continue to celebrate in masks until Saturday. It is Ash Wednesday, the day that opens the period of fasting and penance that precedes Easter.
Pope francesco he made a request for this Wednesday of the war. «I invite everyone to make a day of fasting for peace on 2 March Ash Wednesday. I especially encourage believers to devote themselves intensely to prayer and fasting on that day. May the queen of peace preserve the world from the madness of war ».
Ash Wednesday
It is the Wednesday following Shrove Tuesday and therefore the last day of Carnival, for those who do not follow the Ambrosian rite. It is also called ashes day or just ashes and is the first day of Lent. The Shrove Tuesday, the name says, is the last day you can eat fat. On Ash Wednesday, Catholics should observe fasting and in particular not eat meat, as on all Fridays until Easter.
The ash
During the liturgy of this day a little blessed ash is sprinkled on the heads of the faithful. They are obtained by burning the blessed olive branches on Palm Sunday of the previous year. It serves as a reminder of the transience of earthly life: “Remember man, what dust you are and dust you will return” as God says to Adam after original sin (Genesis 3,19). Ash is also the external sign of one who repents.
Lent
The Ashes open the Lent, the period traditionally dedicated to penance. These are the 40 days before Easter. It goes until Holy Thursday. For the Ambrosian rite, on the other hand, we start from the Sunday following Shrove Tuesday and go up to the Easter vigil. Sant’Ambrogio, bishop of Milan, was late, after a pilgrimage, in returning to the city for the rites of Lent. There are actually 48 days, but Sundays are not counted as days of penance.
40 days
40 is a symbolic number, Christianly speaking. Jesus passed 40 days in the desert after his baptism in the Jordan and before starting his preaching. It was 40 days of fasting and temptations. The number 40 occurs several times in the Bible: the universal flood lasted 40 days and Moses remained for the same period on Mount Sinai. Another 40 will be those who will pass between the resurrection and ascension of Jesus.
At your place
Ash Wednesday varies each year as do the dates of the spring festivities. And the Easter which regulates all the dates of the holiday calendar. It falls on a different day each year and is established according to the lunar cycles. It falls on the Sunday following the full moon following the spring equinox, March 21, according to a system established during the Council of Nicaea. Easter is called low if it runs from 22 March to 2 April, average from 3 to 13 April and high until 25 April. In 2022, Ash Wednesday is March 1st and Easter is April 17th, so high.
Source: Vanity Fair
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