Editing Ash Wednesday (section)

==Observing and non-observing denominations==
Ash Wednesday is observed by numerous denominations within [[Western Christianity]].<ref name=Melton2011>{{cite book|last=Melton|first=J. Gordon|editor-last=Melton|editor-first=J. Gordon|title=Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lD_2J7W_2hQC&pg=PA49|volume=1|year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara|isbn=978-1-59884-206-7|pages=49–50|chapter=Ash Wednesday}}</ref> [[Latin Church]] [[Catholic Church|Catholics]],{{NoteTag|Not all Catholics observe Ash Wednesday. [[Eastern Catholic Churches]], which do not count [[Holy Week]] as part of Lent, begin the penitential season on [[Clean Monday]], the Monday before Ash Wednesday, and Latin Catholics who follow the [[Ambrosian Rite]] begin it on the First Sunday in Lent. Ashes are blessed and ceremonially distributed at the start of Lent in the Latin Church, the [[Maronite Church]], and the [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Church]]. In the Ambrosian Rite, this is done at the end of the Sunday Mass or on the following day.<ref>[http://www.ilsussidiario.net/News/Cronaca/2013/2/13/GIORNO-DELLE-CENERI-Cos-e-il-rito-delle-Ceneri-/363495/ ''Il Sussidiario'', Giorno delle Ceneri: Cos'è il rito delle Ceneri] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714184544/http://www.ilsussidiario.net/News/Cronaca/2013/2/13/GIORNO-DELLE-CENERI-Cos-e-il-rito-delle-Ceneri-/363495/ |date=14 July 2014 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.sapere.it/sapere/strumenti/domande-risposte/storia-civilta/Perche-il-Carnevale-ambrosiano-si-festeggia-in-ritardo-rispetto-al-resto-d-Italia.html ''Sapere'', Perché il Carnevale ambrosiano si festeggia in ritardo rispetto al resto d’Italia?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524063435/http://www.sapere.it/sapere/strumenti/domande-risposte/storia-civilta/Perche-il-Carnevale-ambrosiano-si-festeggia-in-ritardo-rispetto-al-resto-d-Italia.html |date=24 May 2014 }}</ref>}} [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]], [[Anglicans]],<ref name=Melton2011/> and [[Moravian Church|Moravians]] observe it.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://resource.moravian.org/ResourceView/1/4622 |title=Lent for Everyone: Matthew, Year A: A Daily Devotional |website=Moravian Church in North America |access-date=14 February 2018 |archive-date=14 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214141951/http://resource.moravian.org/ResourceView/1/4622 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.moravian.org.uk/attachments/article/20/Home%20%20Overseas%20-%20March%202017%20-%20Lent.pdf |title=Lent around the world |author=Moravian Women's Association |publisher=The Moravian Church British Province |date=March 2017 |access-date=14 February 2018 |archive-date=14 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214073756/http://www.moravian.org.uk/attachments/article/20/Home%20%20Overseas%20-%20March%202017%20-%20Lent.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Churches in the [[United Protestant]] tradition, such as the [[Church of North India]], [[Church of South India]],<ref name="CSI Ash Wednesday 2019">{{cite web |url=https://csi1947.com/news_screen/departments/60ab7af23fd25cbb19e5e111 |title=Lenten Retreat for the CSI Synod Staff on Ash Wednesday |date=March 7, 2019 |website=Church of South India |access-date=2025-03-05}}</ref> and [[United Church of Canada]] honour Ash Wednesday too.<ref>{{cite web |author1=[[Richard Bott]] |title=Moderator's Lent Message 2020 |url=https://united-church.ca/news/moderators-lent-message-2020 |publisher=[[United Church of Canada]] |language=English |date=17 February 2020 |access-date=17 February 2021 |archive-date=21 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210221031537/https://united-church.ca/news/moderators-lent-message-2020 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Some [[Baptists]],<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.christianpost.com/news/ash-wednesday-today-christians-observe-first-day-of-lent-115628/ |title=Ash Wednesday Today, Christians Observe First Day of Lent|date=5 March 2014|last=Koonse|first=Emma|work=[[The Christian Post]]|quote=Although some denominations do not practice the application of ashes to the forehead as a mark of public commitment on Ash Wednesday, those that do include Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and some Baptist followers.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140305225907/http://www.christianpost.com/news/ash-wednesday-today-christians-observe-first-day-of-lent-115628/|archive-date=5 March 2014}}</ref> many [[Methodists]] (including denominations aligned with the [[holiness movement]] such as [[Church of the Nazarene|Nazarenes]] and [[Wesleyan Church|Wesleyans]]),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wesleyan.org/how-do-you-observe-lent-6102|title=How do you observe Lent?|last=Sleeth|first=Nancy|date=23 February 2017|website=The Wesleyan Church|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.holinesstoday.org/lent-preparation-for-easter|title=Lent: Preparation for Easter {{!}} HOLINESS TODAY|website=www.holinesstoday.org|access-date=11 March 2019|archive-date=11 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311083050/http://holinesstoday.org/lent-preparation-for-easter|url-status=dead}}</ref> many [[Radical Pietism|Radical Pietists]] such as the [[Evangelical Covenant Church]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.covchurch.ca/news/2016/2/3/first-day-of-lent-ash-wednesday |title=First Day of Lent, Ash Wednesday |website=The Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada |language=en-CA |access-date=14 February 2018 |archive-date=14 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214202649/http://www.covchurch.ca/news/2016/2/3/first-day-of-lent-ash-wednesday |url-status=dead }}</ref> and some [[Conservative Anabaptism|Conservative Anabaptists]], including some [[Mennonites]], observe Ash Wednesday.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://mennoworld.org/2018/02/13/the-world-together/remember-that-you-are-dust/ |title=Remember that you are dust |last=Ahlgrim |first=Ryan |date=13 February 2018 |work=Mennonite World Review |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://mennoworld.org/2015/02/18/the-world-together/preparing-to-enter-lent-thoughts-on-ash-wednesday/ |title=Preparing to enter Lent{{snd}}thoughts on Ash Wednesday |last=Harader |first=Joanna |date=18 February 2015 |work=Mennonite World Review |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129015500/http://mennoworld.org/2015/02/18/the-world-together/preparing-to-enter-lent-thoughts-on-ash-wednesday/ |archive-date=29 November 2017 }}</ref> The [[Metropolitan Community Church]]es observe Ash Wednesday.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://mccchurch.org/document/ash-wednesday-2018-worship-resources/ |title=Ash Wednesday 2018 Worship Resources |website=Metropolitan Community Churches |language=en-US |access-date=14 February 2018}}</ref> Many [[Independent Catholics]],<ref name="Wagner2011">{{cite book|last=Wagner|first=Abp. Wynn|title=A Catechism of the Liberal Catholic Church|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w2RgDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT53|edition=4th|date=6 February 2011|publisher=BookBaby|isbn=9781609849306|page=53}}</ref><ref name="Manila Standard">{{Cite news |url=http://www.manilastandard.net/news/top-stories/258651/ash-wednesday-ushers-in-time-of-remorse.html |title=Ash Wednesday ushers in time of remorse |last=Cabie |first=Honor Blanco |date=14 February 2018 |work=Manila Standard |language=en |access-date=14 February 2018 |archive-date=14 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214142045/http://www.manilastandard.net/news/top-stories/258651/ash-wednesday-ushers-in-time-of-remorse.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the [[Community of Christ]] also observe it.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cofchrist.org/ash-wednesday-ideas |title=Ash Wednesday Ideas |website=Community of Christ |language=en |access-date=14 February 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171021211131/http://www.cofchrist.org/ash-wednesday-ideas |archive-date=21 October 2017 }}</ref>

The [[Reformed church]]es have historically not observed Ash Wednesday, nor Lent in general, due to the Reformed [[regulative principle of worship]].<ref>{{cite AV media | people=Duncan, Ligon | date=22 August 2013 | title=Should You Cancel Good Friday?| type=Podcast | publisher=The Gospel Coalition|at=00:53|url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/podcasts/tgc-podcast/should-you-cancel-good-friday-ligon-duncan-collin-hansen-mark-mellinger/|quotation=[T]he only part of the church calendar that features in the regular cycle of services and worship at First Pres[byterian Church] would be Christmas and Easter.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Clark|first=R. Scott|author-link=R. Scott Clark|title=With The Reformed Pubcast On Lent And Sola Scriptura|quote=According to the Western church calendar this is the Lenten season (the 40 days from 'Shrove Tuesday' to Easter) and it is being more widely observed within NAPARC. This is worth noting since, historically, most Reformed churches have not observed Lent and have often confessed against it as an infringement of Christian liberty and contrary to the formal principle of the Reformation, ''sola scriptura''.|url=https://heidelblog.net/2017/03/with-the-reformed-pubcast-on-lent-and-sola-scriptura|publisher=The Heidelblog|date=14 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title= Directory for the Publish Worship of God|publisher=The Westminster Assembly|date=1645|location=Chapter XIV}}</ref> Since the mid-twentieth century, many churches in the Reformed tradition (including certain [[Congregationalist]], [[Continental Reformed]], and [[Presbyterian]] churches) do observe both Ash Wednesday and Lent such as the [[Church of Scotland]], the [[Protestant Church of the Netherlands]], the [[Swiss Reformed Church]], the [[Presbyterian Church (USA)]], and the [[United Church of Christ]].<ref name="EB1911"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://pres-outlook.org/2005/02/ash-wednesday-what-do-presbyterians-do/ |title=Ash Wednesday: What do Presbyterians do? |last=Scanlon |first=Leslie |date=7 February 2005 |website=The Presbyterian Outlook |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422000108/https://pres-outlook.org/2005/02/ash-wednesday-what-do-presbyterians-do/ |archive-date=22 April 2017 }}</ref><ref name="BartlettTaylor2009">{{cite book|last1=Bartlett|first1=David L.|last2=Taylor|first2=Barbara Brown|title=Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 2: Lent through Eastertide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=184qCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA22|year=2009|publisher=Presbyterian Publishing Corporation|isbn=9781611641189|page=22}}</ref> The [[Reformed Church in America]], for example, describes Ash Wednesday as a day "focused on prayer, fasting, and repentance."<ref name="2018RCA">{{cite web|url=https://www.rca.org/resources/liturgy-rca-basics-worship/liturgical-calendar|title=The Liturgical Calendar|year=2018|publisher=[[Reformed Church in America]]|language=en|access-date=13 March 2018}}</ref> The liturgy for Ash Wednesday thus contains the following "Invitation to Observe a Lenten Discipline" read by the presider:<ref name="RCA2018" />
{{blockquote|We begin this holy season by acknowledging our need for repentance and our need for the love and forgiveness shown to us in Jesus Christ. I invite you, therefore, in the name of Christ, to observe a Holy Lent, by self-examination and penitence, by prayer and fasting, by practicing works of love, and by reading and reflecting on God's Holy Word.<ref name="RCA2018">{{cite web|url=https://www.rca.org/resources/ash-wednesday|title=Ash Wednesday|year=2018|publisher=[[Reformed Church in America]]|language=en|access-date=13 March 2018}}</ref>}}

The [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] does not, in general, observe Ash Wednesday. Instead, Orthodox [[Great Lent]] begins on [[Clean Monday]].<ref name=EB2014/> There are a relatively small number of Orthodox Christians who follow the [[Western Rite Orthodoxy|Western Rite]]. These do observe Ash Wednesday, although often on a different day from the previously mentioned denominations, as its date is determined from the Orthodox calculation of [[Easter|Pascha]], which may be as much as a month later than the Western observance of Easter.