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What is Ash Wednesday?
- Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, a 40-day period of penance leading to Easter.
- Foreheads bear a cross of ashes made from burned Palm Sunday fronds.
- The rite includes the phrase 'Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.'
- Lent historically allowed only one meal and no meat or fish during the period.
- Today many observe Lent by giving up indulgences or certain activities.
- Eastern Orthodox churches observe Lent on a different schedule, not marking Ash Wednesday.
- The cross of ashes is a symbol of mortality and penitence for sins.
- Nat Geo notes origins of Lent tracing to 325 CE and its baptismal preparation roots.
- The article was updated from a 2020 publication to reflect current context.
- Palm Sunday connections link the ash to Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem and the Passion week.
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