Here’s the origin of Ash Wednesday, Lent, Good Friday and Easter, when Lent ends and why the dates they fall on change every year.

A devotee with an ash cross on her forehead prays during Ash Wednesday rites March 5, 2025 at the Redemptorist Church in Manila, Philippines as Catholics in this predominantly Roman Catholic nation ...

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, Christianity's 40-day season of prayer, fasting and giving in preparation for Jesus Christ' resurrection.

Rev. Stephen Hamilton, pastor, traces a cross on the forehead of a woman during an Ash Wednesday service at St. Monica Catholic Church in Edmond, Oklahoma on Wednesday, March 5, 2014. Rev. Stephen ...