It is a marked day in the Christian calendar and has a lot of history, tradition and customs that are worth learning about. We refer to Ash Wednesday, which also marks the countdown to Holy Week, a date marked with great value for the Christian world and which is closely linked to folklore and the most typical celebrations of our country. You know what does ash wednesday mean?
When is Ash Wednesday 2022
This year this special date falls on March 2. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, which means that we are forty-two days away from Palm Sunday, which gives rise to Holy Week. There are forty-two days since Sundays are excluded when fasting, the Lord’s Day is a reason for respect.
Depending on when Easter takes place based on the calendar, the specific date on which Ash Wednesday will be celebrated can be calculated. As in this 2022 it could be said that it starts on Palm Sunday, which is April 10, the calculations are made and the conclusion is reached that this day will take place on March 2. The beginning of Lent is a time in which they try to lead a life with more strength and constancy to prayer, penance and charity.
This special date falls on Wednesday every year because it counts backwards, it is forty days before Palm Sunday and this day gives rise to Holy Week, so it does not affect whether they are leap years or not.
What is Easter?
history of ash wednesday
The origin of Ash Wednesday was marked centuries ago, when both Jews, Ninevites, Egyptians and Arabs covered themselves with ashes when they carried out a sacrifice or duel. It was then that he used this act for people who wanted to exhibit their repentance and need and desire to convert and see the light as good Christians. In the early years of the church, when someone wanted to convert, they would cover their heads with ashes and thus appear before the people showing their desire to change and convert dressed in a penitential habit.
In the year 384 AD, Lent had an important weight and was given a penitential meaning for all the faithful. However, the tradition of imposing ashes on the head arrived in the 11th century, it was then that what is now known as ‘Ash Wednesday’ began to take shape. Over time, this rite was applied to all people, since the entire community presented itself as sinners and meant a time of union between Christians, of improvement when it came to recognizing mistakes and converting in this Lent that begins.
Ash Wednesday and Lent
There are forty days in which we imitate, accompany and show solidarity with the hardships that Christ suffered in the desert where he decided to retire to fast and dedicate himself to prayer. It is a special time to go to mass, since on this occasion we intend to be even closer to God to show him what we want to change and improve. It is a day to receive the imposition of ashes on the forehead, a gesture that reminds the faithful that they are here passing through and that their final goal is heaven. They also remind us that we are fragile and mortal.
Returning to the Creator when Ash Wednesday is celebrated is a way to value what we have, how lucky we are and remember that this is just a path we are passing through, which motivates us to be better for ourselves. achieve our ultimate goal. At the end of our lives, only what we have done towards our brothers, for God and the path that we have decided to give to our existence every moment of our days remains.
In the imposition a cross is marked with the ashes on the forehead of the faithful. This gesture is accompanied by these words: “repent and believe in the Gospel” –related to the conversion part– and “dust you are and to dust you will return” –remember that earthly life is just a journey and that the end is at hand. paradise, where eternal life is found.
Fasting on Ash Wednesday
It is a day of fast and abstinence, which invites you to stand in solidarity with those who go hungry every day and who have less than us. Although this is one of the pillars of the church, today we are reminded of it with more impetus. For those who want to celebrate Ash Wednesday this year and are interested in the subject, we tell you that fasting is considered to have only one very strong meal per day and abstinence is not eating any meat.
Another aspect of the Ash Wednesday liturgy to take into account is that it reminds Christians of the alms they must share with others, with those most in need. From that moment we are facing a good trip made up of forty days to cleanse and purify the soul, the mind and the heart as good faithful, good Christians.
Of course, we must clarify that this fast should not be done by all people, but only by over 18 years of age and those under 60 years of age. Also excluded are those whose health is delicate and it harms them to fast. The same applies to the prohibition of eating meat in Lent. Nor should pregnant women fast, nor nursing mothers who are breastfeeding their baby.
However, and although meat is prohibited, there are very healthy alternatives to eat well without committing sin, following the rule of Ash Wednesday and Holy Week. In fact, chickpea stews with cod and other typical Lenten dishes are popular.
However, there are those who wonder if this prohibition of eating meat at Easter has not really become meaningless. In the past, meat was a luxury good reserved only for wealthy families, so abstaining from meat was a way of asking for humility. Nowadays, however, there are other foods that are more expensive than meat, and we could even say that fish is more expensive. The tradition is continued out of habit, although perhaps it has lost its essence.
On the other hand, this penance of fasting is understandable if we remember those 40 days that Jesus Christ spent in the desert without food.
In any case, beliefs and faith are what rule in any religious celebration and, in truth, this is what really matters, beyond eating or not eating food.
What to eat on Ash Wednesday
We have already advanced something. Stews are very popular when Holy Week arrives or when Ash Wednesday approaches as a prelude to the festivity. However, and although at first the prohibition reached any meat, the Church modified this rule and now we can meat as long as it is white meat and even red meat and its derivatives.
Then? There are always people who prefer to follow tradition and respect fasting or restrict meat consumption, which is not bad from time to time so that the body rests from as much meat as we usually eat.
The religious sentiment in Holy Week:
Ash Wednesday and the burial of the sardine
We must not forget that Ash Wednesday coincides with the end of the carnival party, which supposes a total counterpoint with the religious liturgy. The time of lack of control and debauchery ends with a celebration in which those low passions are buried to give rise to a stage of recollection and more spiritual. This is symbolized by what is known as the Burial of the Sardine. A popular festival, with shades of humor, that takes place in many Spanish streets.
Why is Ash Wednesday celebrated?
This day could be considered a good time for conversion, penance, repentance. It is a good time to think, to clean and be a better Christian, a better person. Why Ash Wednesday is celebrated has a very beautiful essence, of inner work and of help and involvement with the most disadvantaged, with the people around us who do not have the same privileges to survive. Although without a doubt every day is good for all these things.
Ash Wednesday is not the only day of fast and abstinence in the Christian calendar. Good Friday is also marked by these guidelines. And on the rest of the Fridays that make up Lent, meat is not eaten but it is compulsory abstinence. A typical dish to eat these days is vegetable stew.
As for ashes, on Palm Sunday the faithful collect blessed branches that are in a pile as they enter the church and take them home. The remaining branches are those that are collected, burned and their ashes are kept to impose them the following year. They are usually kept in nearby parishes or convents.
The meaning of the branches on this day comes from when Jesus Christ arrived in Jerusalem and was received with palms and olive branches. So burning the branches acquires the meaning that the palms were signs of glory and end up turning into ash and being reduced to nothing. The same Ash Wednesday message, constantly but in different ways.
Ash Wednesday is considered an open house day at the church. Non-believers are invited to reflect and seek a new path in which to forgive their mistakes and be better people, and why not, convert. The ashes can be imposed as an act of repentance for acts that have been done in the past.
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