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[[Image:Ash wednesday.jpg|thumbnail|right|250px|[[Ash Wednesday]] is the first day of [[Lent]].]]

[[Image:Ash wednesday.jpg|thumbnail|right|250px|Ash Wednesday is the first day of [[Lent]].]]

'''Ash Wednesday''' is the first day of [[Lent]]. Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of adherents as a sign of mourning and [[repentance]] to [[God]]. The ashes used are typically gathered after the palms or Palm Crosses from the previous year's [[Palm Sunday]] are burned.<ref name="Description">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QQpXwIt3ihAC&pg=PA25&dq=ash+wednesday&hl=en&ei=OdV2TfXYHcyArQH4oNCHCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEEQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=ash%20wednesday&f=false| title = Preaching the Calendar: Celebrating Holidays and Holy Days |publisher = [[Westminster John Knox Press]]|quote=We are wise, therefore to explain, whether in the course of the homily or in the church bulletin or newsletter, something of the meaning of the day: of ashes as an ancient symbol of loss and repentance; of the historic words spoken during the imposition of the ashes, "Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return"; of the practice in many religious communions of using ashes made from the palms of the previous year's Palm Sunday; and, of course, that the imposition of ashes is a sign of mourning and repentance.|author=Ellsworth Kalas|accessdate = 8 March 2011}}</ref> This practice is common in most of [[Christendom]], being celebrated by [[Catholic]]s, [[Lutheran]]s, [[Methodist]]s, [[Presbyterian]]s, and [[Anglican Church|Anglicans]].<ref name="Denominations 1">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=oTtcFiGbW2kC&pg=PA98&dq=lent+lutheran+catholic+methodist&hl=en&ei=4NF2Tf3LLsL_rAGmtoBf&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CFUQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=lent%20lutheran%20catholic%20methodist&f=false| title = Comparative Religion For Dummies|author=William P. Lazarus, Mark Sullivan|publisher = [[For Dummies]]|quote=This is the day Lent begins. Christians go to church to pray and have a cross drawn in ashes on their foreheads. The ashes drawn on ancient tradition represent repentance before God. The holiday is part of Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, and Episcopalian liturgies, among others.|accessdate = 8 March 2011}}</ref><ref name="Denominations 2">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=u2ZV_f4uZUEC&pg=PA137&dq=lent+lutheran+catholic+methodist&hl=en&ei=4NF2Tf3LLsL_rAGmtoBf&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=lent%20lutheran%20catholic%20methodist&f=false| title = An Ecofeminist Perspective on Ash Wednesday and Lent|publisher = Peter Lang|quote=In the twentieth century, the imposition of ashes became part of the liturgical experience of not only Roman Catholics, but Anglicans, Methodists, and Lutherans as well.|author=Sylvia A. Sweeney|accessdate = 8 March 2011}}</ref>     

'''Ash Wednesday''' is the first day of [[Lent]]. Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of adherents as a sign of mourning and [[repentance]] to [[God]]. The ashes used are typically gathered after the palms or Palm Crosses from the previous year's [[Palm Sunday]] are burned.<ref name="Description">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QQpXwIt3ihAC&pg=PA25&dq=ash+wednesday&hl=en&ei=OdV2TfXYHcyArQH4oNCHCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEEQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=ash%20wednesday&f=false| title = Preaching the Calendar: Celebrating Holidays and Holy Days |publisher = [[Westminster John Knox Press]]|quote=We are wise, therefore to explain, whether in the course of the homily or in the church bulletin or newsletter, something of the meaning of the day: of ashes as an ancient symbol of loss and repentance; of the historic words spoken during the imposition of the ashes, "Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return"; of the practice in many religious communions of using ashes made from the palms of the previous year's Palm Sunday; and, of course, that the imposition of ashes is a sign of mourning and repentance.|author=Ellsworth Kalas|accessdate = 8 March 2011}}</ref> This practice is common in most of [[Christendom]], being celebrated by [[Catholic]]s, [[Lutheran]]s, [[Methodist]]s, [[Presbyterian]]s, and [[Anglican Church|Anglicans]].<ref name="Denominations 1">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=oTtcFiGbW2kC&pg=PA98&dq=lent+lutheran+catholic+methodist&hl=en&ei=4NF2Tf3LLsL_rAGmtoBf&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CFUQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=lent%20lutheran%20catholic%20methodist&f=false| title = Comparative Religion For Dummies|author=William P. Lazarus, Mark Sullivan|publisher = [[For Dummies]]|quote=This is the day Lent begins. Christians go to church to pray and have a cross drawn in ashes on their foreheads. The ashes drawn on ancient tradition represent repentance before God. The holiday is part of Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, and Episcopalian liturgies, among others.|accessdate = 8 March 2011}}</ref><ref name="Denominations 2">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=u2ZV_f4uZUEC&pg=PA137&dq=lent+lutheran+catholic+methodist&hl=en&ei=4NF2Tf3LLsL_rAGmtoBf&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=lent%20lutheran%20catholic%20methodist&f=false| title = An Ecofeminist Perspective on Ash Wednesday and Lent|publisher = Peter Lang|quote=In the twentieth century, the imposition of ashes became part of the liturgical experience of not only Roman Catholics, but Anglicans, Methodists, and Lutherans as well.|author=Sylvia A. Sweeney|accessdate = 8 March 2011}}</ref>