Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the 40-day season of Lent, serving as a solemn day of fasting, repentance, and reflection. It signifies a return to God, reminding believers of their mortality and need for repentance. The service involves the imposition of ashes on the forehead—often made from the previous year's Palm Sunday palms—as a sign of penitence, with the phrase, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return".