Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. It is so called from a custom in the Roman church of sprinkling ashes on the heads of penitents on that day. This ceremony is said to have been instituted by Gregory the Great. The rite, as performed at the present day, is somewhat different. The ashes are now consecrated on the altar, sprinkled with holy water, signed with the cross, and scattered over the heads of the worshipers, while the priest repeats, in Latin, the words: "Remember that thou art dust, and wilt to dust return."