Today is Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2026—the solemn beginning of the Lenten season, a 40-day journey of reflection, repentance, fasting, and preparation for Easter. In many Christian traditions, believers receive ashes on their foreheads in the sign of the cross, accompanied by words drawn from Scripture: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19) or "Repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15). These ashes, often from burned palm branches o