Poles mark Ash Wednesday

Priests sprinkle ash onto the heads of the faithful in Lublin Cathedral: photo - PAP/Wojciech Pacewicz

During mass, the heads of the faithful are sprinkled with ash, as a reminder of man's mortality.

“Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return.” priests declaim today.

Typically in Poland, the ashes used are those of twigs that were burned during the previous year's Palm Sunday.

Lent echoes the forty days that Christ spent in the desert, where he overcame temptations offered to him by Satan.

The forty-day period, which leads up to Holy Week, is traditionally a time of self-denial, and according to custom, Poles do not eat meat on Ash Wednesday. (nh)