Christians to start lent on Ash Wednesday
Christian devotees queue to have their foreheads smeared with ash at Christ the King Church in Kampala as they marked Ash Wednesday on March 02, 2022. PHOTO | RACHEL MABALA
What you need to know:
- This year’s Ash Wednesday falls on Valentine's Day while Easter Sunday will be celebrated March 31.
Christians across the world February 14 start fasting, a season in which they are ushered in on the traditional Ash Wednesday.
While lent period lasts at least 40 days, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season wherein devotees receive an ash in the forehead.
Believers are expected to observe lent period with self-sacrifice, prayer, and other religious activities leading up to Easter, the day believed to be when Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
During mass, the Priest inscribes ash on the foreheads of Christians.
The Ash symbolizes human mortality as “having been created using dust and to dust we shall return.”
It also symbolizes the Christian action to grieve for the death of Jesus Christ. The Ash is usually prepared by burning pals used during the previous Palm Sunday.
Speaking to Monitor on the eve of Ash Wednesday, Kampala Archdiocese spokesperson Rev Fr Joseph Mukiibi implored Christians to attend mass and pray for the grace of humility.
“If a Christian has this value, then others will emulate,” he highlighted.
The priest also called upon Christians to fight all evils that offend eternal truth for the love that culminated into the eternal God.
“Christians must therefore not be lured to self-denial, interest, and self-mastery.
This year’s Ash Wednesday falls on Valentine's Day while Easter Sunday will be celebrated March 31.
