Ash Wednesday
Feria IV Cinerum
Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and marks the first day of Lent: the seven weeks of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving before the arrival of Easter.
Ash Wednesday is observed by Christians of the Catholic, Lutheran, Moravian, Anglican (Episcopalian), and United Protestant denominations, as well as by some churches in the Reformed (including certain Congregationalist, Continental Reformed, and Presbyterian churches), Baptist, Methodist, and Nazarene traditions.
Ash Wednesday is traditionally observed with fasting and abstinence from meat in several Christian denominations. As it is the first day of Lent, many Christians begin Ash Wednesday by marking a Lenten calendar, praying a Lenten daily devotional, and making a Lenten sacrifice that they will not partake of until the arrival of Eastertide.
Next
Readings at Mass
Every year
- First Reading
- Jl 2:12-18
- Second Reading
- 2 Cor 5:20—6:2
- Gospel Acclamation
- Ps 95:8
Christ seated on the stones at first light, his hands locked, the desert behind him to the horizon, 1872