This is the beginning of the Lenten Season, the symbolic journey we take in remembrance of Christ's 40 days of fasting and temptation on the desert.
On this day, we resolve to abstain from certain things, such as favorite foods or television, for the duration of Lent. We do this as an act of respect for the sacrifice of our Lord. We can return to enjoying these things beginning on Easter Sunday.
At special services, ashes of the Palms carried on Palm Sunday of the previous year are placed on the worshiper's forehead in the form of a cross. This act, called the Imposition of Ashes, is carried out as the priest says "Remember, you are dust, and to dust you shall return" Book of Common Prayer page 265. This is a sign of mortality and penitence.
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