ASH WEDNESDAY, THE BEGINNING OF LENT
This February 14 is Ash Wednesday, the day on which the Carnival celebrations end and the beginning of Lent, a time of peace, reflection and much faith.
What is Ash Wednesday?
A symbol of ancient rites where converted sinners were subject to penance. It is applied in the form of a cross on the forehead with the words "Dust you are and dust you will become". The ash is from the branches of the trees blessed on Palm Sunday of the previous year. It is made since the eleventh century, when it was recommended by Pope Urban II. It was imposed on the penitents as a sign of marginalization, now to all the faithful who recognize being sinners and accept their fragility and mortality.
Lent?
These are the forty days in which Christians prepare for Easter. It is considered a time of penance and purification. It lasts 40 days due to numerous biblical episodes: the forty days of the flood, the forty years that the Jewish people went through the desert, the forty days that Moses spent at Sinai with God or Elijah on the mountain, the forty days of Jesus in the desert, etc.
Who celebrates it?
Catholic churches, Orthodox, Calvinist, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist and Eastern Orthodox. The time is determined by the church. In the Latin rite begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Thursday. Since the second century there are references to a fast before Easter. In the 4th century, it was fixed in the current 40 days.
What religious significance does it have?
It is a period to "direct the spirit towards the realities that are truly important" and show "that it takes an evangelical effort and a coherence of life". The liturgical color of this time is purple, which means mourning and penance.
What do the believers do?
The Church calls the faithful to confess their sins, to do good deeds, to be in solidarity with those who suffer and to renounce the superfluous and sumptuous. In this liturgical time, fasting and renunciation of earthly needs. In Spain, for example, the meat is renounced on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent.
