Ash Wednesday opens Lent with the oldest and plainest sign of penance: ashes on the forehead. The ashes come from the palms blessed on the previous Palm Sunday, burned and blessed again, and they are placed on us with words drawn from the Gospel and from Genesis. It is a day of fast and abstinence for the whole Latin Church, and although it is not a holy day of obligation, Catholics fill their churches on it more than on almost any other weekday of the year. Everything about the day is meant to begin something: the ashes are the first step of forty days.

What you need

• The time of Mass or the Liturgy of the Word with distribution of ashes at your parish
• A plan for the day's two small meals and one full meal
• Your written Lenten plan: one prayer, one fast, one work of mercy

When to pray it

Ash Wednesday, forty-six days before Easter Sunday (between 4 February and 10 March). Ashes are distributed at every Mass of the day and often at a midday or evening Liturgy of the Word.

Steps

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   Step 1: Know who fasts and who abstains

   Ash Wednesday is one of the two obligatory days of both fasting and abstinence in the year (Good Friday is the other). Fasting binds Catholics of the Latin Church from their eighteenth birthday until their sixtieth; abstinence from meat binds everyone from their fourteenth birthday. Those who are ill, including people with chronic conditions such as diabetes, and women who are pregnant or nursing, are excused from fasting, and no one should harm their health to keep it. Members of the Eastern Catholic Churches follow the discipline of their own Church.

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   Step 2: Know what the fast means in practice

   The Church's fast is not a total fast. It permits one full meal, and two smaller meals that together do not add up to a full meal, with nothing eaten between meals (liquids are permitted). Abstinence means no meat from warm-blooded animals, that is mammals and birds; fish and other seafood, eggs and dairy are permitted. Plan the day's food before it begins so that hunger becomes a prayer rather than a scramble, and keep the meals simple: a plate of fish and chips is within the letter but not the spirit.

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   Step 3: Go to Mass, or to a Liturgy of the Word

   Ashes are blessed and distributed after the homily at every Mass of Ash Wednesday, and many parishes add a Liturgy of the Word with distribution of ashes at midday or in the evening for those who cannot come to Mass. Going to Mass is the fuller way to begin Lent, because you also receive the Eucharist, but both are the Church's liturgy. Arrive early; the churches are full. The readings are Joel's call to rend your hearts and not your garments, Psalm 51, Saint Paul's 'now is the acceptable time', and the Gospel of Matthew 6 on almsgiving, prayer and fasting done in secret.

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   Step 4: Receive the ashes and hear the words

   Come forward as you would for Communion. The priest, deacon or minister dips a thumb in the ashes and traces a cross on your forehead, saying either 'Repent, and believe in the Gospel' or 'Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.' No response is prescribed; you may answer 'Amen' quietly or simply bow your head and return to your place. Both formulas are the Church's own: one is Jesus' first preaching, the other is God's word to Adam after the fall. Take whichever you are given as the word spoken to you this Lent.

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   Step 5: Wear the ashes

   There is no rule about how long to keep the ashes on. Most people leave them until they wear off or wash them at the end of the day; others wipe them after Mass. What matters is the reason. Worn through a working day they are a quiet witness that you are a sinner who intends to repent, and they often open conversations. Worn to be admired they contradict the Gospel you just heard. Decide before you leave the church, and then stop thinking about them.

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   Step 6: Pray the day's psalm and an Act of Contrition

   Before the day ends, pray Psalm 51, the day's responsorial psalm, or the De Profundis▾ (Psalm 130▾), the Church's other great psalm of repentance, slowly and in your own name. Then make an Act of Contrition▾, not for a list of sins but for the whole drift of your life away from God. This is the interior ash: the sorrow that the exterior sign stands for. If you already know you need confession, look up the Lenten confession times tonight and choose a date.

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   Step 7: Begin your Lenten plan

   Ash Wednesday is day one, so begin the three practices today rather than on Thursday. Keep the fast and abstinence, make your chosen prayer, and set aside the first gift of alms, even a small one. Write the plan somewhere you will see it every morning, and remember that the first Friday of Lent, a day of abstinence, is only two days away. The How to Prepare for Lent guide helps you choose the three practices if you have not yet done so.

Tips

• Ashes are a sacramental, not a sacrament. There is no requirement to be in a state of grace, or even to be Catholic, to receive them; bring your children and anyone who wants to come.
• Fasting is required of Catholics aged 18 to 59 and abstinence from meat of everyone 14 and older; the sick, and pregnant or nursing women, are not bound. Common sense governs.
• Do not eat your full meal before Mass if you are going in the evening; many people fast through the day and eat after.
• The Gospel of the day warns against practising piety to be seen. Wear the ashes, but do not wear them for show.

Related practices

• Fasting