Question: What is Ash Wednesday? 1. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, the traditional forty fast days before Easter. The title derives from the discipline in the ancient Roman Church of sprinkling ashes on the heads of penitents with a view to their being restored to Communion at Easter. (Bakers Dic. of Theo. p.69). 2. "A day of penitence signified by the dabbing of ashes on the forehead and traditionally marking the beginning of Lent. The day was originally part of the discipline of public penitence and came to be used generally from the 10th century. The ash recalls Gen. 3:19's reminder that humans are of dust" (CEDT.42). 3. The forty days of Lent (from the first Sunday of Lent to Good Friday) were, according to St. Leo and St. Augustine, the Church's annual retreat, urging Catholics to share in the solemn commemoration of our Redemption by our Lord's death on the Cross. The 40 days were suggested by the fasting of Moses, Elisha, and Jesus (Ex.24; 1 Kgs. 19; Mt. 4) (The Question Box, p.442.) Goes on to say: Lent is first mentioned in the fifth canon of the Council of Nice (325)... 4. In Rome, "After giving themselves up to all kinds of gaiety and licentiousness during the Carnival, till 12:00 on Tues. night, the people go on Ash-Wed. morning into the churches, when the officiating priests put ashes on their head, repeating the words, 'Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.'" (Mc. & Str., Vol. I, P.466)