According to custom, priests sprinkle the heads of the faithful with ash in a ceremony designed to inspire repentance, telling them: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
The ashes traditionally used in Poland are those of twigs that were burned during the previous year's Palm Sunday.
Worshippers also abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday.
Lent, a 40-day period of fasting that leads to Easter, is traditionally a time of self-denial and penitence for believers.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Poland's Roman Catholic Church said it would be raising funds for Ukrainian war refugees during religious services throughout the day, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
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Source: PAP