About Today
Wednesday 18 February 2026
Ash Wednesday
Christ the Lord was tempted and suffered for us. Come, let us adore him.
Or: O that today you would listen to his voice: harden not your hearts.
Year: A(II). Psalm week: 4. Liturgical Colour: Violet.
Ash Wednesday
Lent is the forty-day period of preparation for Easter, which is marked by prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
How exactly those forty days are calculated has varied across the world and at different times in history. In Jerusalem in the fourth century, Lent was 40 fasting days, but those were spread over eight weeks because Saturday and Sunday were not fast days. The way we calculate Lent today, Sundays are not fast days, so Lent spreads over six and a half weeks, which means that it begins on Ash Wednesday.
We all remember Ash Wednesday because of the ashes. They commemorate the ‘repentance in sackcloth and ashes’ which is a sign of mourning and penance throughout the Old Testament. We go up in turn to the altar and have ashes rubbed into our foreheads as the priest says some variant of ‘Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return.’ This mark stays on us through the rest of the day, like a Hindu caste mark, unless prudence or fear make us wipe it off.
Being reminded that we are dust does not mean being told we are worthless. What we are being told is that our value comes not from ourselves, but through us, from God. If people were light-bulbs, we would find it easy to understand this. A light-bulb does not produce light. It cannot. What a light-bulb can do (and a working light-bulb does do) is take the energy given to it from outside, and shine brightly by accepting and transforming what it has received.
If we understand the true source of value, we avoid the perils of both pride and depression. If we shine brightly in this world, that does not come from within ourselves. It is because we deal faithfully with whatever power we have been given us – greater power or lesser power – as in the parable of the talents, the two good servants take what their master has given them and do something with it.
Ash Wednesday falls on a Wednesday in most parts of the world, but not quite all. In Milan, the ashes are imposed on the first Sunday of Lent. In Vietnam, the celebration of the lunar New Year occasionally collides with Ash Wednesday, in which case Ash Wednesday is slightly postponed. For instance, in 2026 Ash Wednesday in Vietnam is celebrated on the Friday.
Other saints: Day of Venerating Ancestors (Vietnam)
Vietnam
Other saints: Bl. John of Fiesole OP (c.1386 - 1455)
18 Feb (where celebrated)
Ash Wednesday
Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Beware of practising your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
‘Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
‘And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 'And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
‘And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Reflection on the gouache and watercolour painting
‘And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.'
Ash Wednesday confronts us, with striking honesty, with the fragility of life and the reality of our mortality. Putting ashes on our forehead can't be anymore visual. We literally show how we believe in mortality. Lent begins by remembering that we are dust. It is a moment that strips away illusion and self-importance, reminding us how transient all things are. And yet, we do not gather on this day simply to dwell on decay or endings. The ashes we receive are not just a sign of what fades; they carry a much deeper story within them.
Those ashes come from the palms of Passion Sunday of last year that we burn. It comes thus from the memory of Christ’s suffering, death, and burial. Jesus entered fully into the realm of dust and death, only to rise from it into new life. Ash Wednesday therefore points beyond itself. Our final destiny is not ashes, but resurrection, sharing in the risen life of Christ. Lent is the journey towards that transformation. The ashes mark our desire to turn again towards the risen Jesus. So how do we do this? The gospel reading puts before us three ways: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. In a way these corresponds to the three loves at the heart of the Christian life: love of God (prayer), love of neighbour (almsgiving), and a truthful love of self (fasting). On this day, we begin again... choosing to build our lives on these foundations, so that new life may slowly take shape within us.
Life is indeed transient. Before we know it, we leave these earthly shores. This very thought led to a whole style of genre paintings, emerging in the 17th century: vanitas paintings. At a time of great mercantile wealth and military conflicts in Europe, paintings and drawings were made to remind the viewer of the transience of life. These vanitas paintings were filled with symbolic references. Our highly detailed watercolour on paper by Dutch artist Herman Henstenburgh depicts music sheets (giving the earthly pleasure of listening and the ephemerality of human existence), a flute (whose sounds would seduce people), a blown-out candle, a knocked-over hourglass, and blossoming but ultimately withering flowers, all surrounding a skull. Together, these symbols speak quietly but insistently: earthly pleasures, achievements, and distractions cannot last. However full or successful our lives may seem, they remain incomplete if they end only with what we can see and hold.
Vanitas Still Life,
Painted by Herman Henstenburgh (1667-1726),
Circa 1700,
Watercolour, gouache, and gum arabic on parchment.
Ash Wednesday
Christ the Lord was tempted and suffered for us. Come, let us adore him.
Or: O that today you would listen to his voice: harden not your hearts.
Year: A(II). Psalm week: 4. Liturgical Colour: Violet.
Ash Wednesday
Lent is the forty-day period of preparation for Easter, which is marked by prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
How exactly those forty days are calculated has varied across the world and at different times in history. In Jerusalem in the fourth century, Lent was 40 fasting days, but those were spread over eight weeks because Saturday and Sunday were not fast days. The way we calculate Lent today, Sundays are not fast days, so Lent spreads over six and a half weeks, which means that it begins on Ash Wednesday.
We all remember Ash Wednesday because of the ashes. They commemorate the ‘repentance in sackcloth and ashes’ which is a sign of mourning and penance throughout the Old Testament. We go up in turn to the altar and have ashes rubbed into our foreheads as the priest says some variant of ‘Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return.’ This mark stays on us through the rest of the day, like a Hindu caste mark, unless prudence or fear make us wipe it off.
Being reminded that we are dust does not mean being told we are worthless. What we are being told is that our value comes not from ourselves, but through us, from God. If people were light-bulbs, we would find it easy to understand this. A light-bulb does not produce light. It cannot. What a light-bulb can do (and a working light-bulb does do) is take the energy given to it from outside, and shine brightly by accepting and transforming what it has received.
If we understand the true source of value, we avoid the perils of both pride and depression. If we shine brightly in this world, that does not come from within ourselves. It is because we deal faithfully with whatever power we have been given us – greater power or lesser power – as in the parable of the talents, the two good servants take what their master has given them and do something with it.
Ash Wednesday falls on a Wednesday in most parts of the world, but not quite all. In Milan, the ashes are imposed on the first Sunday of Lent. In Vietnam, the celebration of the lunar New Year occasionally collides with Ash Wednesday, in which case Ash Wednesday is slightly postponed. For instance, in 2026 Ash Wednesday in Vietnam is celebrated on the Friday.
Other saints: Day of Venerating Ancestors (Vietnam)
Vietnam
Other saints: Bl. John of Fiesole OP (c.1386 - 1455)
18 Feb (where celebrated)
Ash Wednesday
Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Beware of practising your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
‘Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
‘And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 'And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
‘And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Reflection on the gouache and watercolour painting
‘And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.'
Ash Wednesday confronts us, with striking honesty, with the fragility of life and the reality of our mortality. Putting ashes on our forehead can't be anymore visual. We literally show how we believe in mortality. Lent begins by remembering that we are dust. It is a moment that strips away illusion and self-importance, reminding us how transient all things are. And yet, we do not gather on this day simply to dwell on decay or endings. The ashes we receive are not just a sign of what fades; they carry a much deeper story within them.
Those ashes come from the palms of Passion Sunday of last year that we burn. It comes thus from the memory of Christ’s suffering, death, and burial. Jesus entered fully into the realm of dust and death, only to rise from it into new life. Ash Wednesday therefore points beyond itself. Our final destiny is not ashes, but resurrection, sharing in the risen life of Christ. Lent is the journey towards that transformation. The ashes mark our desire to turn again towards the risen Jesus. So how do we do this? The gospel reading puts before us three ways: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. In a way these corresponds to the three loves at the heart of the Christian life: love of God (prayer), love of neighbour (almsgiving), and a truthful love of self (fasting). On this day, we begin again... choosing to build our lives on these foundations, so that new life may slowly take shape within us.
Life is indeed transient. Before we know it, we leave these earthly shores. This very thought led to a whole style of genre paintings, emerging in the 17th century: vanitas paintings. At a time of great mercantile wealth and military conflicts in Europe, paintings and drawings were made to remind the viewer of the transience of life. These vanitas paintings were filled with symbolic references. Our highly detailed watercolour on paper by Dutch artist Herman Henstenburgh depicts music sheets (giving the earthly pleasure of listening and the ephemerality of human existence), a flute (whose sounds would seduce people), a blown-out candle, a knocked-over hourglass, and blossoming but ultimately withering flowers, all surrounding a skull. Together, these symbols speak quietly but insistently: earthly pleasures, achievements, and distractions cannot last. However full or successful our lives may seem, they remain incomplete if they end only with what we can see and hold.
Vanitas Still Life,
Painted by Herman Henstenburgh (1667-1726),
Circa 1700,
Watercolour, gouache, and gum arabic on parchment.