Ash Wednesday

When: 46 days before Easter (the date changes each year)

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent in the Western churches. Many Christians go to church and receive a small cross of ashes on the forehead, as a sign that they are sorry for what they have done wrong and want to turn back to God.

Where it came from

In the Bible, people put on ashes and sackcloth to show they were sorry, as in the book of Jonah, when the people of Nineveh turned back to God. In the early church, people who had done serious wrong began a time of penance with ashes before Easter.

In the 1000s, the church made it a custom for everyone, not only those who had done great wrong. The ashes come from burning the palm branches used the year before on Palm Sunday. While making the cross, the priest says, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”, or “Repent and believe in the gospel”.

How it is kept around the world

• Churches worldwide. Many Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Methodist churches hold services. Some offer “ashes to go” on the street.
• Fasting. Catholics fast on this day, eating less, and do not eat meat on Ash Wednesday and on the Fridays of Lent.
• The Philippines. Churches are full, and many people go about their day with the ashes on their foreheads.
• Brazil and Latin America. After Carnival, Ash Wednesday brings a quiet change. Many people go to church, and in some places the ashes are made from the palms of the year before.
• Orthodox churches. Great Lent starts two days earlier, on Clean Monday, without ashes. In Greece, people fly kites and eat a plain picnic on Clean Monday.

Christians differ

Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist and some other Christians keep Ash Wednesday. Many Baptist, Pentecostal and other free churches do not. Some Christians worry about Jesus's words in Matthew 6:16–18, which tell people not to show off when they fast. Others say the ashes are an honest and humble sign, not a show. Both groups want to be sincere before God.

Do it together

Ages 0 to 2

• Touch soft dirt or sand together. Say “soft” and “start again”.
• Give a hug and say, “I am sorry. I love you.”

Ages 3 to 5

• Draw a picture of a time you said sorry and what happened next.
• Plant a seed in a cup of soil and watch it for the weeks of Lent.

Ages 6 to 8

• Choose one small thing to give up or add for Lent, such as a treat or a daily kind act.
• Make a Lent calendar with 40 small boxes.

Ages 9 to 12

• Read Jonah 3. What did the people of Nineveh do, and what did God do?
• Write down one habit you want to change, and one way to begin.

Ages 13 to 17

• Read Joel 2:12–13 and Matthew 6:1–18. What does each say about sincerity?
• Choose a way to fast from something that takes up your time, and use that time to help someone.

A short prayer

God, we are sorry for the times we have hurt others and turned away from you. Help us to begin again with your love. Amen.

Mark as done

Where this comes from

• Book of Jonah, chapter 3; Joel 2:12 to 13; Gospel of Matthew 6:1 to 18
• Paul F. Bradshaw and Maxwell E. Johnson, The Origins of Feasts, Fasts and Seasons in Early Christianity (Liturgical Press, 2011)
• F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2005), entry “Ash Wednesday”

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.