So it's another public holiday and inevitably, beaches and party spots across the country will be filled to capacity throughout the day. But even as you revel in the fact that there's no work or school today, you may just want to reflect for a moment on the meaning of Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, the penitential season that leads up to Easter, the holiest season of the Christian church year. The 40 days of Lent are traditionally a time of penance when believers fast and abstain from meat and pray and give alms. They use it to reflect and to traditionally examine themselves and acknowledge sins and consciously make an effort to do better.

Period of cleansing

Traditionally, they begin the season with a period of cleansing, a day when they receive ashes on their foreheads as a sign of penance. Many church leaders apply the ashes mixed with oil on to the worshippers' foreheads in the shape of a cross. The cross drawn from ashes is seen as a sign of penance, hence the name Ash Wednesday.

The concept was started by the Roman Catholics sometime in the 6th century the exact origin of the day is not clear, the custom of marking the head with ashes on this day is said to have originated during the papacy of Gregory the Great (590-604).

In the Old Testament, ashes were used for two purposes: as a sign of humility and mortality; and as a sign of sorrow and repentance for sin. So as you go through your day, spare a thought for the true meaning of Ash Wednesday.