Ash Wednesday begins the 40 day period of penance in the lead up Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection from the dead. Ashes are imposed on our heads as a sign of conversion, penance, fasting and human mortality, a practice which comes from ancient times. We are reminded that from dust we came, and to share in the resurrection of Christ, to dust we shall first return. The ashes serve as a humiliation in which we seek to, in union with Christ, appease God for our sins so that we may receive the promise of eternal life.
