The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002.
Ash Wednesday
The seventh Wednesday before Easter; the first day of Lent for most Christians; the day after Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras. It is frequently observed as a day of fasting and repentance for sin. In some churches, ashes are placed on the foreheads of worshipers on Ash Wednesday as a reminder of their mortality. The words of God to Adam in the Bible are often used in the ceremony: Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.