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Ash Wednesday
What Is Ash Wednesday?
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a day of humility and repentance, remembering our need for God's mercy.
On Ash Wednesday, many Christians receive a cross of ashes on the forehead with the words, 'Remember that you are dust.' It is a sober, honest day: we are mortal, we have sinned, and we need grace.
But the ashes are shaped like a cross, because the story does not end in dust. It ends in the mercy of God.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”
Psalm 51:10 · King James Version (public domain)