ASH-WEDNESDAY

(See Lent and Commination .) This day seems to have been observed as the first day of Lent in the time of Gregory the Great. It is supposed by some, that Gregory added three days at the beginning of Lent, to make the number forty, in more exact imitation of the number of days in our ble ed Saviour’s fast; and that before his time there were only thirty-six days, the Sun days being always kept as festivals. It was called, in his time, Dies cinerum , the day of sprinkling ashes, or Caput jejunii , the beginning of the fast. The custom of open penance, which the name of the day reminds us of, is one of those things which the Church of England, at the time of the Reformation, wished to see restored; but on account of the prejudices of the time, she could not carry out her wishes. (See the Commination Service in the Prayer Book .)