Carnival is a period of festivities during which everything (or almost everything) is permitted. When this period ends, we enter Lent, a solemn time of preparation for Easter that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Thursday.

What is the meaning of Ash Wednesday?

Ash Wednesday has great symbolic and spiritual importance, as it marks the beginning of a journey of conversion aimed at a profound renewal of the heart. 
To emphasize the penitential atmosphere, the Ash Wednesday liturgy calls for violet vestments. The celebrating priest wears a violet stole and chasuble, while the deacon wears a violet deacon's stole and dalmatic.

Stole

Dalmatics

Deacon's stole

What is celebrated on Ash Wednesday?

The name of this particular observance derives from the use of ashes obtained from the blessed olive branches distributed on Palm Sunday of the previous year, which are then burned and kept specifically for this purpose. The priest uses these ashes to trace the sign of the cross on the head or forehead of the faithful during the Ash Wednesday liturgy.
This is a penitential liturgical celebration that highlights the ecclesial and personal dimensions of the journey of conversion that is beginning and will culminate at Easter.
We are therefore called to experience the imposition of ashes not as a magical rite, but as a rite that points us back to the truth of who we are, so that we may better understand the things to which we should give importance.

Why are ashes used?

Biblical theology reveals a twofold meaning in the use of ashes:
1. First of all, they signify the fragile and weak condition of human beings. Abraham says to God: “See how I venture to speak to my Lord, I who am but dust and ashes” (Gen 18:27). Job, acknowledging the limits of his existence, says: “He has cast me into the mud: I have become like dust and ashes” (Job 30:19). This precarious dimension of human beings, symbolized by ashes, is also found in many other biblical passages (Wis 2:3; Sir 10:9; Sir 17:27).

2. But ashes are also the outward sign of someone who repents of their evil deeds and decides to embark on a new path of return to the Lord. Particularly well known is the biblical account of the conversion of the inhabitants of Nineveh through Jonah’s preaching: “The people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast, and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes” (Jon 3:5-9). Judith, too, invites all the people to do penance so that God may intervene to deliver them: “Every Israelite man and woman and the children who lived in Jerusalem prostrated themselves before the temple, sprinkled ashes on their heads, and, dressed in sackcloth, raised their hands before the Lord” (Jdt 4:11).
The expression “to sprinkle ashes on one’s head” originates precisely from this tradition and means to repent and do penance.
Jesus, too, invokes ashes as a sign of repentance and contrition” (Lk 10:13).

The blessing of the ashes

As early as the 10th century, the practice of blessing ashes was widespread. Blessed ashes are a sacramental, that is, sacred signs instituted by the Church to help us develop a deeper relationship with Christ and to help us sanctify every part of our lives. 
Sacramentals are extensions of the seven sacraments and bring God’s grace into everything we do. If we receive them in a spirit of faith, sacramentals can protect us from spiritual evil or inspire us to lead a holy life devoted to God.
In the past, during the Ash Wednesday liturgy, the priest imposed ashes on the foreheads of the faithful while reciting this formula: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen 3:19). With the Second Vatican Council, the rite was enriched in meaning by the new formula, “Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:1-15).
The two formulas are actually complementary, because those who are aware of the transience of their human condition and of its inevitable destiny to become dust can find eternal salvation only in the Gospel.

Fasting and abstinence from meat on Ash Wednesday

If Shrove Tuesday represents the last opportunity to enjoy delicious foods, especially rich and fatty sweets, Ash Wednesday begins with fasting and abstinence from meat. Indeed, this is underscored by the very name Carnival, which derives from the Latin “carnem levare” and means “to remove meat.”
In particular, the faithful, from the age of 18 until 60, must observe the ecclesiastical fast and abstinence from meat twice a year, on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. On Holy Saturday, these two obligations are recommended.
Fasting does not mean that one cannot eat anything. One meal is allowed during the day (without meat), with only a little food at the other two meals.
Water and medicines may be taken freely. Exceptions are provided for particular personal and health circumstances.
Abstaining from meat, as is easy to understand, also means not eating meat on Friday. This rule applies to every Friday except those on which a holy day of obligation falls, that is, one of the solemnities listed in the liturgical calendar.

How can we fast today?

Fasting is intended to help us break the chains of sin and foster communion with the Lord through listening to the Word, more intense prayer, and charity. Therefore, there can be many ways to observe this practice, beyond those offered by tradition. For example, as a suggestion, we can fast from certain means of social communication, beginning with excessive use of mobile phones and social media. We can fast from smoking, television, and alcoholic beverages. In short, we can fast from anything that entails a sacrifice for us and therefore manifests our sincere desire for conversion.

This enables us to open ourselves to God and others by devoting more time to prayer and to truly arrive renewed to welcome the Risen One.