This article is about the religious holiday. For other senses of this term, see Ash Wednesday (disambiguation).

In the Western Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. It occurs forty days before Easter, not counting Sundays, and forty-four calendar days (counting Sundays) before Good Friday. It falls on different dates from year to year, according to the date of Easter; it can occur as early as February 4 or as late as March 10.

At Masses and Services of worship on this day, worshippers are blessed with ashes by the celebrating priest or minister. The

"Remember that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return." (Latin: Memento homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris.)

or

"Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel."

or

"Repent, and hear the good news."

The ashes are prepared by burning palm leaves from the previous year's Palm Sunday celebrations and mixing them with olive oil as a fixative. In the Roman Catholic Church, Ash

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season, which lasts until the Easter Vigil. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 are permitted to consume only one full meal each day, which may be supplemented by two smaller meals, which together should not equal the full meal. These days are also days of abstinence from meat.

The Anglican Book of Common Prayer designates Ash Wednesday as a day of fasting.

As the first day of Lent, it comes the day after Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras, the last day of the Carnival season. The word "Carnival" is in fact derived from the Lenten practice of giving up meat.

Ash Wednesday will occur on the following dates in the following years:

• 2006 - March 1
• 2007 - February 21
• 2008 - February 6
• 2009 - February 25
• 2010 - February 17
• 2011 - March 9
• 2012 - February 22
• 2013 - February 13
• 2014 - March 5
• 2015 - February 18
• 2016 - February 10
• 2017 - March 1
• 2018 - February 14
• 2019 - March 6

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