..    ASH WEDNESDAY  ..       Ash Wednesday is one of the most popular   and important holy days in the liturgical calendar.     Ash Wednesday opens Lent,   a season of fasting and prayer.         Ash Wednesday takes place 46 days before Easter Sunday,   and is cheifly observed by Catholics,   although many other Christians observe it too.     ..       Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting,  abstinence from meat,  and repentance,   a day of contemplating one's transgressions.     It is the first day of Lent in Western Christianity,   a 40-day period which is an allusion to the separation of Jesus in the desert  to fast and pray.     According to gospel,   during this time Jesus was tempted.         Ash Wednesday also marks the end of the Carnival festival,   Immideately following Mardi Gras (Translation: Fat Tuesday).         It occurs 46 days (40 fasting days,   if the 6 Sundays,   which are not days of fast,   are excluded)   before Easter and can fall as early as 4 February  or as late as 10 March.     Ash Wednesday is observed by many Western Christians,   including Anglicans,  Lutherans,  Methodists,  Presbyterians,  Roman Catholics,  and Wesleyans.     ..       Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of blessing ashes  made from palm branches blessed on the previous year's Palm Sunday,   and placing them on the heads of participants  to the words "Repent, and believe in the Gospel"   or "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return".         The ashes are christened with Holy Water   and are scented by exposure to incense.         Ashes are ceremonially placed on the heads of Christians on Ash Wednesday,   either by being sprinkled over their heads or,   in most English-speaking countries,   being marked on their foreheads  as a visible cross.         It is not required that a person wear the ashes for the rest of the day,   and they may be washed off after Mass.     However,   many people keep the ashes as a reminder until the evening.         The ashes symbolize the dust from which Christians beleive God made humans.     Ashes also symbolize grief,   in this case,   grief that humans have sinned  and caused division from God.         Most Eastern Orthodox Churches do not observe Ash Wednesday.         ..    OTHER CELEBRATIONS ON ASH WEDNESDAY ..       In the Republic of Ireland ..     Ash Wednesday is National No Smoking Day.     The date was chosen  because quitting smoking  could relate to the giving up luxury  for Lent.     In the he United Kingdom ..    National No Smoking Day,  now observed on the second Wednesday in March,  was previously observed on Ash Wednesday.