During the forty days of Lent, we are invited to participate in disciplines of fasting, prayer, and works of love. Ash Wednesday is the solemn day of prayer that marks the beginning of Lent, when we confess our sin in a litany of repentance (turning back to God), receive ashes (the ancient symbol of repentance and a reminder of our mortality), and marked with the cross of Christ, begin our journey through Lent.