Ash Wednesday in pictures

Ash Wednesday was colorful and fun as usual in the heart of Hafnarfjörður. The children sang wonderfully for each piece of sweet treat.

Ash Wednesday in the heart of Hafnarfjörður

There was joy and fun on the streets of Hafnarfjörður yesterday, Ash Wednesday (Öskudagur). The children ran between shops, the library and the town´s customer service center. Some even sneaked into the mayor’s office. Candy was offered and the singing sounded sweetly all over town. The songs varied and many elaborated their performance with great life and soul – After all, the stakes were high!

As stated on the University of Iceland’s Web of Science, Ash Wednesday is the start day of Good Lent, the Wednesday of the 7th week before Easter. It is not possible to assume the exact date, as it can fluctuate between February the 4th to March 10th. But this year Ash Wednesday was on March the 5th.

The Great Cleansing Day

But why is the day called Ash Wednesday? “Ash Wednesday has long been important in the Catholic Church year and its name is derived from the fact that in some places ashes are scattered over the heads of churchgoers, and even a special bouquet is used for this. Elsewhere, ashes are known to be smeared on the foreheads of churchgoers. As we read in many places in the Bible, ashes represent the corruptible and unworthy, but they have also been considered to have wholesome and cleansing powers. Lent is the ecclesiastical time of repentance, and the scattering of ashes over the congregation reminds one of impermanence and at the same time cleanses one of their sins,” says on the Web of Science’s website.