These ashes, according to Father Wisniewski, are made from either burning olive branches or the palms blessed the previous year on Palm Sunday.īut where does the tradition of receiving ashes at the beginning of Lent originate? 'The imposition of ashes is not just a simple rite, but it is something very profound that touches our hearts,' said Father Lukasz Wisniewski, vice-rector of the Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary in Brookline. Ash Wednesday - the beginning of the season of Lent. Walk through any school, supermarket, subway or shopping center next Wednesday and you are likely to find Catholics marked with the sign of the cross in dark ashes on their forehead.
The penitential season of Lent calls Christians to prayer, fasting, repentance and charity.
Palms are burned for ashes used to mark the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday.
