Introduction The history of Lent dates back to centuries ago with Christians spending time preparing to celebrate the ...

In the First Reading, Nineveh is described as an “awesomely great city” (v 3) not just for its enormous size and power, but for its enormous sins. The Assyrians had destroyed the northern kingdom of ...

Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes” (Matthew 11:21, ESV). The prophet Isaiah ...

We become walking witnesses to that place of truth. Heaping ashes upon the head, rending the garment and donning sackcloth were all outward signs of penitence in biblical times. While meant to be a ...

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has apologised after deleting a social media post that joked Pope Francis “loves the Ashes”. The Pope has been in hospital since February and is being ...

We are at a critical time and supporting climate journalism is more important than ever. Science News and our parent organization, the Society for Science, need your help to strengthen ...

"We move forward after seeing lives in ashes," she said. "The ashes will scatter. They'll return to the earth. There will be things that are painful and we'll get through them. But we have our ...

One of the most striking biblical accounts is found in Jonah, where the King of Nineveh repents in sackcloth and ashes and orders his subjects to do the same (Jonah 3:7-8). Jesus himself refers to ...

During that time they did acts of penance, like extra praying and fasting, and lying “in sackcloth and ashes,” as an outward action expressing interior sorrow and repentance. The customary ...

though references to ashes as a sign of repentance go as far back as the Old Testament (think Job and sackcloth). For many Christians, Ash Wednesday serves as a spiritual "reset button." It’s a ...

As part of this ritual, they were sprinkled with ashes, clothed in sackcloth, and required to stay apart from the community until their reconciliation on Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter.