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This wording of the intro is better I think:

Ash Wednesday is a Christian day for peace and the first day of Lent, which is six weeks of repentance before Easter. Ash Wednesday is only observed in some churches.[1] It derives its name from the placing of repentance ashes on the foreheads of participants to either the words "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" or the dictum "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."[2]

The reason it is better is because it's about Ash Wednesday and not about Lent. There's a link to Lent if the reader wants more info on that.Dr. Zaius 1976 (talk) 13:46, 14 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

User:Dr. Zaius 1976, I have no objection to your truncation of the lede, albeit I have restored the specific denominations that observe Ash Wednesday as this is useful to the reader. I hope this helps. With regards, Anupam^Talk 16:16, 14 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The introduction describes Lent as the "six weeks of penitence before Easter". Should it not also say that Lent is a time of fasting? Vorbee (talk) 09:02, 6 March 2019 (UTC)[reply]

While fasting as a specific penitential practice or discipline may be encouraged by some denominations, it is by no means universal. This is an area where privileging a group's particular practice leads to obscuring the overall theme of the day. The article about Lent is the place for listing various ways to observe Lent. Bikerbudmatt (talk) 17:21, 17 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

User:Desmay, thank you for restoring a more stable version of the article. It looks like while no one was looking, someone went through and changed every instance of "Christian" in this article to "Catholic", even in website citations such as christiantoday.com to catholictoday.com! I agree that major changes to the intro need to be hashed out here rather than made abruptly. --1990'sguy (talk) 04:22, 18 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Well, someone didn't "went through" and someone didn't replace something with his "POV". However, someone's desire is not an editwar or vandalism. Instead, someone is just removing this article from his list. Have a nice time!--Medusahead (talk) 09:04, 18 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Vandalism may not have been the intent, but, Someone could make productive improvements by discussing the matter. desmay (talk) 15:54, 22 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Desmay, yes, it is important for us to distinguish between vandalism and other types of disruptive editing. It is uncivil to call things vandalism that aren't. It's a derogatory term, and wikipedia has a narrow definition we should rely on. Elizium23 (talk) 19:13, 22 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Elizium23 You make a good point indeed that someone can be wrongly accused of vandalism. And we should not imply you are a vandal when you may have just had an opinion. Sorry if feelings are hurt. I've been in your shoes, I get it. God bless. 97.70.177.110 (talk) 16:45, 26 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I am perplexed that in all of the talk about the tradition, the variations in the ritual, the various churches that recognize Ash Wednesday, the ash itself and the cross placed on the forehead of a worshipper, that no one mentions the "Why?" 2601:282:1985:7BC0:D05A:4E4E:1340:FA8B (talk) 20:27, 22 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]