Ash Wednesday each year marks the start of Lent, the forty-day period of fast, abstinence and prayer leading up to Easter Sunday.

The season commemorates the days prior to the death of the Lord Jesus on Good Friday as a time for church-goers to be in union with Christ as He prepares for His death on Calvary.

Several churches in Cullman held services for their followers during which the sign of the Cross was formed by burnt ashes on their foreheads as the priests say, “Behold, you were made from dust and unto dust you shall return.” The ashes come from burned leftover palms used last year on Palm Sunday, the commemorative day on which Jesus entered Jerusalem, triumphant, five days prior to His cruel crucifixion and death on the Cross.

This yearly event is observed worldwide among believing Christians to remind everyone of the love of God for His world as He sent His only Son, Jesus, to save us from the effects of sin.