Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. The type of fast Jesus himself endorsed was the following, found in Matthew 6:16-18, "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. Repentance in dust and ashes often was accompanied with fasting during Bible times.
Several times the Bible mentions people repenting in dust and ashes for example: Mordecai (Esther 4:1), Job (Job 42:6), the inhabitants of Nineveh (Jonah 3:5-6), and Daniel (Daniel 9:3-4).
Is Ash Wednesday Mentioned in the Bible?Īsh Wednesday is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, however, from Biblical times, sprinkling oneself with ashes has been a mark of sorrow for sin. Pope Gregory also instituted the tradition of marking parishioners forehead’s with ashes in the shape of a cross. This changed allowed for 40 days of fasting with six Sundays counted as feast days, for a total of 46 days for Lent. In 601 Pope Gregory moved the beginning of Lent from the fourth Sunday of the year to Ash Wednesday, 46 days before Easter. During this time period the goal of Constantine was to combine pagans and Christians into a peaceable unit within the Roman kingdom.Įven after the Council of Nicaea the beginning start date of Lent was still questioned. The council also settled upon the 40-day fast period as the standard length to celebrate Lent.
Besides showing sorrow for their sins, those who honor Ash Wednesday add an additional meaning the need to prepare for a holy death.įree Bible Study Offer: Can We Believe in God? Origin of Ash WednesdayĪsh Wednesday has a non-Christian origin and was accepted into the beliefs of the Catholic Church at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. With these ashes, the priest marks a cross on the foreheads of worshipers, saying, "Remember, man, that dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return" (Genesis 3:19 KJV). Ashes from the burned palms of the preceding year's Palm Sunday are blessed. Roman Catholic churches of the Latin Rite use this service to prepare church members to better appreciate the death and resurrection of Christ through self-examination, repentance, prayer, fasting, and self-denial.
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