Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. And God's Church begins this penitential season with a solemn reminder of our final end with the blessings of the ashes. Ashes have been traditionally used to denote a spirit of contrition, mourning and penance. The Holy Scripture itself is filled with many examples of this. And such purging sacrifice and sorrow is important in helping prepare our souls for the most important day in our life - the day we die.

As Catholics everywhere receive the holy ashes on their foreheads, they hear what God Himself told Adam as He sent him out of the Garden of Paradise: "Thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return."

And an interesting fact, that not everyone knows, is another way in which our Holy Mother Church ties together our liturgical seasons - the holy ashes we receive on Ash Wednesday are the burnt ashes of the blessed palms from the previous Palm Sunday.