Ash Wednesday is officially here! The Christian season of Lent — the 6-week period that leads up to Easter — starts. What we know on dates, meanings and more.

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, Christianity's 40-day season of prayer, fasting and giving in preparation for Jesus Christ' resurrection.

Sundays may be excluded from fasting during the season, as fasting and abstinence during the period are voluntary outside of Ash Wednesday, Good Friday ... with the Dallas Morning News.

Pope Francis marked Ash Wednesday by blessing ashes and placing ... Francis "engaged in several work activities," Wednesday morning, including calling Father Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest ...

Ash Wednesday, also known as the Day of Ashes ... scrolling Facebook, or your morning coffee. Abstaining from eating meat on all Fridays during Lent is the most widely spread sacrifice.

The cross, placed on a worshiper's forehead by a priest, indicates that a person belongs to Jesus Christ and is grieving and morning for ... flesh meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and each ...