Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday, the Wednesday six weeks before Easter Sunday – March 5, 2025, – is a Christian holy day of fasting, sacrifice, and prayer. Followers of Jesus, of several sects and denominations, often forgo a regular meal schedule, instead eating only one normal-sized meal and two very small ones over the course of a given 24-hour period, especially on Good Friday. The most devout Christians are known to eat even less than that, limiting themselves to bread and water to signify their recognition of Christ’s 40-day, 40-night fast as recounted in the Gospels. Abstinence from alcohol is also stressed on Ash Wednesday and throughout the Lenten period.

The main thrust overall is that when the faithful set aside certain bodily comforts, they may settle into an attitude of penitence, recognizing their past sins and the sacrifice that Jesus made to cleanse them of those sins. The physical expression of the…