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Ash Wednesday Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.
Ash Wednesday facts
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent in the Western Christian calendar. It occurs 46 days before Easter. The date is different each year because the date of Easter varies. It can fall as early as February 4 and as late as March 10.
Those able to and willing to should fast voluntarily between Ash Wednesday and Easter. There are exceptions, though. Pregnant women, sick people, children, and the old usually don't have to.
Ash Wednesday is a very important part of Lent.
Dates
The dates of Ash Wednesday are:
| 2000 | March 8 | |
| 2001 | February 28 | |
| 2002 | February 14 | |
| 2003 | March 5 | |
| 2004 | February 25 | |
| 2005 | February 9 | |
| 2006 | March 1 | |
| 2007 | February 21 | |
| 2008 | February 6 | |
| 2009 | February 25 | |
| 2010 | February 17 | |
| 2011 | March 9 | |
| 2012 | February 22 | |
| 2013 | February 13 | |
| 2014 | March 5 | |
| 2015 | February 18 | |
| 2016 | February 10 | |
| 2017 | March 1 | |
| 2018 | February 14 | |
| 2019 | March 6 | |
| 2020 | February 26 | |
| 2021 | February 17 | |
| 2022 | March 2 | |
| 2023 | February 22 | |
| 2024 | February 14 | |
| 2025 | March 5 | |
| 2026 | February 18 | |
| 2027 | February 10 | |
| 2028 | March 1 | |
| 2029 | February 14 | |
| 2030 | March 6 |
Related pages
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Images
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A woman receives a cross of ashes on Ash Wednesday outside an Episcopal church
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A priest marks a cross of ashes on a worshipper's forehead, the prevailing form in English-speaking countries.
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An Episcopal priest has an Ashes to Go station for commuters at the Metro-North Railroad in the American state of Connecticut
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The chancel of Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church on Ash Wednesday 2015 (the veiled altar cross and purple paraments are customary during Lent)
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An 1881 Polish painting of a Roman Catholic priest sprinkling ashes on the heads of worshippers, the form prevailing in, for instance, Italy, Spain, and parts of Latin America.
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A Lutheran pastor distributes ashes to a communicant during a Divine Service
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On Ash Wednesday in 2016, two Episcopal priests distribute ashes to passerby in the American city of Boca Raton as part of the Ashes to Go movement
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Ash Wednesday by Carl Spitzweg: the end of Carnival
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Pastor Brian King distributes ashes during the Holy Mass at Nazareth Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cedar Falls, Iowa on Ash Wednesday (2017)
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The Rev. Thomas Farmer distributing ashes to confirmands kneeling at the chancel rails of Keystone United Methodist Church on Ash Wednesday (2016)