Happy Ash Wednesday 2024: Best wishes, images, messages, greetings and quotes to share with friends and family (2024)

FAQs

What is a good message for Ash Wednesday? ›

Wishing a Happy Ash Wednesday. As we receive the ashes today, may we be reminded of our dependence on God and our call to turn away from sin. Wishing you a reflective and spiritually enriching Ash Wednesday. As we begin the season of Lent, may you draw closer to God through prayer, fasting, and acts of kindness.

Ash Wednesday, 14 February 2024. When you give alms, or pray or fast, take care to do these things in secret, for your Father sees in secret (cf. Mt 6:4). “Go to your room”: this is the invitation that Jesus addresses to each of us at the beginning of the Lenten journey.

Pope Francis has centered his Lenten message for 2024 on the Book of Exodus, choosing “Through the Desert God Leads Us to Freedom” as its main theme to encourage the faithful that the season is a journey from bondage to spiritual renewal and freedom.

Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent and lasts about six weeks. Believers are meant to observe that period of time with self-sacrifice, prayer and other religious activities leading up to Easter, the day believed to be when Jesus Christ rose from the dead to sit at the right hand of God.

"Ash Wednesday is full of joy... The sources of all sorrow is the illusion that of ourselves we are anything but dust."

Why It's OK To Say “Happy Ash Wednesday” Remember, without the Crucifixion there wouldn't be the Resurrection. Without the sad fact and reality of death, we wouldn't have the joyous message of eternal life with God.

Catholics are not allowed to eat meat on Ash Wednesday. Most adults are expected to fast and eat only one full meal per day. Two smaller meals can count for this requirement. Acceptable foods to eat on Ash Wednesday include milk, eggs, fish, grains, fruits and vegetables, according to Forklift and Palate.

The three traditional pillars of Lent are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Through the three pillars of Lent we journey to develop a closer relationship to God. The 40 days of Lent should be filled with reflection, service and prayer.

“God, may Your light guide my day, and your spirit bring me peace. Amen.” “God, may my sacrifice of today of (state your Lenten sacrifice) remind me of my dependence on You for all the blessings I enjoy. Amen.”

Comfort us who are dust and must return to dust with the promise that a broken and contrite heart You will not despise. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer. Grant us repentance at the Lord's table. Let us recognize the enormity of our sins by the measure of Your abundant pardon by the sacrifice of Christ, our Savior.

What not to do on Ash Wednesday? ›

Unless you have a medical exemption, Ash Wednesday is a day of Abstinence for Catholics. Avoiding meat can be difficult, but it's a powerful way to be disciplined about your priorities. When you make little sacrifices a part of your everyday spirituality, amazing things happen!

Summed up succinctly, Roman Catholics must fast and abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, Wednesday, February 14, 2024 and Good Friday, March 29, 2024. Additionally, they must abstain from meat on all Fridays during Lent.

As the priest applies the ashes to a person's forehead, he speaks the words: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Alternatively, the priest may speak the words, “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” Ashes also symbolize grief, in this case, grief that we have sinned and caused division from God.

It is immediately preceded by Shrove Tuesday. Ash Wednesday is a solemn reminder of human mortality and the need for reconciliation with God and marks the beginning of the penitential Lenten season. It is commonly observed with the distribution of ashes and with fasting.

Ash Wednesday is the Church's Day of Atonement. The very name of the day comes from the ancient practice of mourning or doing penance wearing "sackcloth and ashes" to express penitence, not only by Christians but by pagans as well.

A Prayer for Ash Wednesday

Merciful God, you called us forth from the dust of the earth; you claimed us for Christ in the waters of baptism. Look upon us as we enter these Forty Days bearing the mark of ashes, and bless the journey through the desert of Lent to the font of rebirth.