Today is Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the Lenten season for Christians around the world.
Lent is a period of 40 days during which Christians are encouraged to intensify prayers, abstinence, fasting and alms giving.
The ash used to mark people’s foreheads were traditionally made from burnt palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebration.
By receiving and wearing the ashes formed into a sign of the cross on their foreheads, Christians are making the bold claim that lowliness and humility offers the surest way to experience the full joy of humanity.
