Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent: a time of repentance, fasting, and prayer, in preparation for the great feast of the resurrection.

The observance of Ash Wednesday has deep roots in the history of the Christian church. While the use of ashes as a sign of mourning and penitence stretches back to the Old Testament, the formal practice of beginning Lent with the imposition of ashes developed gradually in the early church. In the early centuries of Christianity, public penitents — those who had committed serious sins and were seeking restoration to the community — would wear sackcloth and have ashes placed on their heads as a sign of their repentance. Over time, this practice extended to all the faithful as a communal acknowledgment of human sinfulness and dependence on God. By the 10th and 11th centuries, the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday had become widespread throughout the Western church, and in 1091, the Synod of Benevento officially established it as a universal practice for all Christians in the Latin rite. The Reformation led some Protestant traditions to set the practice aside, but in recent decades there has been a broad renewal of interest in Ash Wednesday across many Christian denominations, as believers have rediscovered its power as a visible, embodied act of repentance.

Throughout the Old Testament, ashes are used as a sign of sorrow and repentance, and Christians have traditionally used ashes to indicate sorrow for our own sin, and as a reminder that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Like Adam and Eve, we have disobeyed and rebelled against God, and are under the same judgment, "You are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19, ESV).

But as we are marked with ashes in the same manner that we were signed with the Cross in Baptism, we are also reminded of the life we share in Jesus Christ, the second Adam (Romans 5:17, 6:4). It is in this sure hope that we begin the journey of these forty days, that by hearing and answering our Savior's call to repent, we may enter fully into the joyful celebration of his resurrection.

The ashes used on Ash Wednesday are typically made by burning the blessed palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday celebrations. After Palm Sunday, the palms are collected, stored, and later burned to create the ashes. The ashes are then blessed by a priest during the Ash Wednesday service.

Some people may wonder why the public nature of the sign of the cross on our foreheads made with ashes does not contradict the appointed gospel reading for the day, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21. In this passage, Jesus warns against performing religious acts for the sake of show, seeking the approval of others, or boasting about one's spiritual practices. However, the imposition of ashes on the forehead is to be a humble and visible sign of our desire for repentance and renewal. Wearing ashes in public can also be a witness to others, inviting them to reflect on their own need for repentance and spiritual growth.

While the gospel passage for Ash Wednesday encourages private prayer and fasting, it does not forbid public displays of faith or repentance. In fact, throughout the Christian tradition, believers have often expressed their faith publicly through acts of charity, witness, and worship. As long as our public displays of faith are done in a humble and sincere manner, they can be a meaningful way to experience the love and grace of God and share them with others.