Ash Wednesday

In the Western Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent.

It occurs forty days before Easter not counting Sundays (which are not included in Lent); it occurs forty-four days before Good Friday counting Sundays. Its placement varies each year, according to the date of Easter. The date can vary from early February to as late as the second week in March.

Ash Wednesday falls on the following dates in the following years:

Some Christians treat Ash Wednesday as a day for remembering one's mortality. Masses are traditionally held on this day at which attendees are blessed with ashes by the priest ministering the ceremony. The minister marks the forehead of each celebrant with black ashes, leaving a mark that the worshipper traditionally leaves on his or her forehead until sundown, before washing it off. This symbolism recalls the ancient oriental tradition of throwing ash over one's head signifying repentance before God (as related numerous times in the Bible). In Roman Catholicism, it is a day of fasting and abstinence.

Being the first day of Lent, it comes the day after Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras, the last day of the Carnival season.

In certain parts of the United Kingdom, Ash Wednesday similarly involves the ritual consumption of a food stuff, the dish hash.

In New Orleans, Louisiana it is sometimes jokingly referred to as "Trash Wednesday" due to the large amount of refuse typically left in the streets by the previous day's Fat Tuesday Celebrations.

In Australia, Ash Wednesday (bushfires) refers to major bushfires that occurred on February 16, 1983 across Victoria and South Australia. 75 lives were lost and over 2500 homes destroyed.