Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent
Ash Wednesday (‘dies cinerum’) is the first day of Lent in the Catholic, Protestant and Anglican traditions. It is held 46 days before Easter: Lent is considered to last 40 days (not counting Sundays). Therefore, it lasts seven weeks. This year it is today: 5 March.
In popular culture, a week of revelry (Carnival begins on Fat Thursday) ends with the burial of the sardine, which happens on Ash Wednesday. This begins a period of reflection and penitence.
ASH WEDNESDAY:
Ash Wednesday is a different date every year depending on when Easter is celebrated, which has to dovetail with the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring. Therefore, Ash Wednesday can fall anywhere between 4 February and 10 March. This year it is today: 5 March.
Its name dates from the tenth century, when the ceremony of the blessing and anointing with the ashes was instated. On this day, which is a day of fasting and abstinence (the liturgical colour of this period is purple, which signals mourning and penitence), just like on Good Friday, believers who attend mass/worship are anointed with ashes (usually in a cross shape on the forehead). The use of ashes stems from an ancient Jewish custom in which people who had sinned would cover part of their bodies with ashes. It was a way of demonstrating their wish to distance themselves from evil and draw closer to God. This tradition has changed over time until becoming the current practice, in which believers attend mass/worship on Ash Wednesday in a mood of reflection with the goal of drawing closer to God during Lent.
According to tradition, the ash should come from the burning of the laurel and palm leaves blessed on Palm Sunday the previous year, and it should be anointed on the head of believers in the shape of a cross (today in some places on the hands to avoid getting dirty). Ash is the symbol of the fleetingness of the human condition, a sign of penitence (used since the Old Testament, as found in the Prophet Jonas (3:1-10) and in the Book of Esther (4:3)) and conversion, which should be the dominant aspects throughout Lent. While anointing the believer with ashes, the priest says: Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris, which means ‘Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return’. The early Church only placed ashes on public sinners who submitted to the rite, who were taken from the temple after being anointed with ashes. They were reconciled with the Church on the morning of Maundy Thursday.
LENT:
Lent in Catalan is ‘quaresma’, which originally came from the Latin word quadragesima (forty). At first, Lent was strongly geared towards baptism, a time meant for preparing catechumens for the official ceremony of baptism, which took place on the night of the Paschal vigil. In the late fourth century, it also took on a penitential meaning in two ways: it was the time when public penitents carried out the penitence needed to reconcile with the Church, which happened on Maundy Thursday; and it was also the time when all Christians fasted and abstained in ascetic preparation for the Paschal solemnities. This fasting joined the ancient practice of ritual fasting on the PaschalTriduum, which began on the night of Maundy Thursday (28 March, according to the Gregorian calendar) and ended with the eucharist on Easter night. In the late fifth century, the start of Lent was moved forward to the Wednesday before the first Sunday of the quadragesima or forty days, which came to be called Ash Wednesday. The liturgical time of Lent was very significant among the people until the early twentieth century, stemming from the prescribed austerity and fasting. The Catalan-speaking lands, just like other territories in the Spanish kingdoms, received exemptions from some fasting and abstinence through the Crusade bull: public games and spectacles were banned except for sacred reenactments of the Passion and concerts, and many people dressed and gave the external impression of penitence and austerity.
In popular culture, the Vella Quaresma (Old Lady Lent) appears on Ash Wednesday; she is the graphic representation of Lent which lasts until Easter Week. She is depicted as an elderly woman with seven legs that served as a calendar: seven weeks to reach Easter Week (this year, according to the Gregorian calendar, from 24 to 31 March). This figure was graphically depicted with a codfish in her hand (on Mallorca, with a herring or hot pepper in her mouth), and was also called the Bacallanera (Barcelona), the Sarraïna (Bages),the Patorra (Roussillon), S’àvia Corema (Menorca), Sa jaia Corema (Mallorca) and other nicknames. One of her legs was pulled off every week; they were first made of paper, often with old bulls, and later they were printed and sold commercially.
Some Orthodox Christian churches are beginning ‘Great Lent’ on Monday 3 March , according to the Julian calendar, with fasting and abstinence. It is a time of preparation for Orthodox Easter Week (this year it coincides with the Gregorian calendar and will be from April 13 to 20) and Easter Day. During this period, believers renew their devoutness and repent their sins. Great Lent lasts seven weeks before Easter and ends with ‘Lazarus Saturday’ (the day before Palm Sunday). However, the fasting continues throughout all of Easter Week until Easter Day.
