“Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return” (Genesis 3:19). These words, spoken for the first time by God to Adam after he had committed sin, are repeated today by the Church to every Christian, in order to remind him of two fundamental truths — his nothingness and the reality of death.

Ash Wednesday (Dies Cinerum) is perhaps the most popular religious day of the year, albeit confused with Mardi Gras. The faithful have observed Ash Wednesday since the mid-900s a.d. and have borne the ashen cross (made from palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday) upon their foreheads since the 12th century. Ash Wednesday is a holy day of fasting and abstinence. While thousands come to the Catholic churches for ashes, many are without full knowledge of what the ritual really is — but at least palpably aware that we are dust.

The 1962 Missal from Angelus Press describes the history and significance of Ash Wednesday:

Ash Wednesday is, from a liturgical point of view, one of the most important days of the year. In the first place, this day opens the liturgical season of Lent, which formerly began with the First Sunday and comprised only thirty-six days. The addition of Wednesday and three following days brought the number to forty, which is that of our Lord’s fast in the desert.

In the Old Law, ashes were generally a symbolic expression of grief, morning or repentance. In the Early Church, the use of ashes had a like signification and with sackcloth formed part of the public penances. The blessing of the ashes … was originally instituted for public penitents, but is now intended for all Christians, as Lent should be a time of penance for all.

The February 2004 issue of Catholic Update explores the original and evolving meaning of Ash Wednesday and Lent:

Those who work with liturgy in parishes know that some of the largest crowds in the year will show up to receive ashes on Ash Wednesday. Though this is not a holy day of obligation in our tradition, many people would not think of letting Ash Wednesday go by without a trip to church to be marked with an ashen cross on their foreheads. Even people who seldom come to Church for the rest of the year may make a concerted effort to come for ashes.

How did this practice become such an important part of the lives of so many believers? Who came up with the idea for this rather odd ritual? How do we explain the popularity of smudging our foreheads with ashes and then walking around all day with dirty faces? Those who do not share our customs often make a point of telling us that we have something on our foreheads, assuming we would want to wash it off, but many Catholics wear that smudge faithfully all day.

Cor Contritum, Quasi Cinis (My Heart, Contrite as Ashes)

The faithful are reminded that receiving ashes is a custom and not a necessary part of the Ash Wednesday observance. It is unseemly to request ashes without some form of prayerful preparation — That is, the pious custom accompanies those essential acts which consist in prayer and almsgiving.

As St. Augustine was wont to say, we are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song. But as Fr. Rutler reminds us, “without confession of our many morbid betrayals of the living God, the song becomes a ditty, and we forget the scarred bishops calling the people to repentance, as at Nicæa.”

Therefore, we pray:

Almighty and everlasting God, spare those who are penitent… Bless and hallow these ashes, that they may be a wholesome remedy to all who humbly implore Thy holy name, and who accuse themselves, conscious of their sins, deploring their crimes before Thy divine mercy, or humbly and earnestly beseeching Thy soverign goodness: and grant through the invocation of Thy most holy name that whosoever shall be sprinkled with them for the remission of their sins may receive both health of body and safety of soul. Through Christ our Lord.