Churches mark Ash Wednesday

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) — It’s Ash Wednesday, and in western churches, marks the first day of lent.

That’s a 40-day period of prayer, penance and fasting that leads up to Easter.

During Ash Wednesday services, Christians get marked with ash on their foreheads usually in the shape of a cross.

Often, the person administering the ashes says something like: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust, you shall return.”

The ashes come from burning palm branches left over from another important day for Christians — called Palm Sunday.

Many Christians give up something, like television or alcohol during lent, as a modern form of fasting.

The tradition of lenten fasting has been around since the fifth to ninth century.