Ash Wednesday 2014
What is Ash Wednesday?
In tradition of the Roman Catholic Church, Ash Wednesday is the first day in the Lenten fasting season, where devotees prepare themselves for Easter celebration of Jesus resurrection. Ash Wednesday is proceeded by Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras)
When is Ash Wednesday 2014?
Ash Wednesday 2014 falls on Wednesday, 5 March 2014.
Ash Wednesday 2014 Celebrations
Ash Wednesday 2014 will be celebrated in many countries including US, UK, Ireland, and Philippines.
Ash Wednesday in United States of America
Many Christian in the USA will come to Ash Wednesday mass, including students from Catholic schools. Priests will draw a cross on attendes forehead with ash as symbol for repentance and forgiveness.
Ash Wednesday in Ireland
Ash Wednesday marks the start Lenten season, the holiest occasion for Christians in Ireland. True to tradition from the past, people come to church and get their forehead marked with a cross of ashes. The ashes usually come from palms kept from the previous Palm Sunday. However, in a some places, people carry ashes from their own home to the church.
Ash Wednesday in Philippines
Ash Wednesday marks the start of the Catholics Lenten Season. In Philippines, people celebrate Ash Wednesday by hearing mass and having their forehead marked with ash mixed with holy water. A large number of people leaves church afterward with the mark still on their forehead, to hold the symbol of the cross coming into the world. A number of other churches, concludes the service by washing down off the ashes, indicating the purification of sins.
Ash Wednesday in Canada
Ash Wednesday 2014 symbolizes the start of Lenten obedience for Christian churches. For a number of Christians, Lent is a point in time to reflect on the subject of life and death.
Ash Wednesday in United Kingdom
Ash Wednesday in the United Kingdom is a day of repentance to cleanse the spirit prior to fasting for the duration of the Lent period. Many Christians will come to the special church services to take the ash in the symbol of the cross on their forehead as a sign of repentance. Some Christians leave the symbol of the cross on their temples following the church service, as sysmbol of them bringing the mark of the cross into the world. Others may decide to rinse the ashes as a symbol that they are cleansed and their offenses have been washed away.
Happy Ash Wednesday 2014 !