5 interesting facts about Ash Wednesday, Lent
1. The meaning of ashes
Ash Wednesday worship involves church services where ashes are placed in the shape of a cross on worshipers' foreheads. The practice is meant to symbolize mortality and penance.
The use of ashes for these purposes has a long history in Judeo-Christian circles, as seen in the Old Testament when various figures would wear sackcloth and put ashes on their heads as a solemn call to repentance.
The apologetics website Got Questions explains that the Bible never mentions Ash Wednesday, but "it does record accounts of people in the Old Testament using dust and ashes as symbols of repentance and/or mourning (2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:1; Job 2:8; Daniel 9:3)."
"Since the Bible nowhere explicitly commands or condemns such a practice, Christians are at liberty to prayerfully decide whether or not to observe Ash Wednesday," the site adds.
