Burning of palms

Nuns burning from last year’s Palm Sunday liturgy, from which the ash will be used during the celebration of the Ash Wednesday, the Cathedral of the Holy Name, Chicago, United States. Ash Wednesday, called in the Roman Missal Feria Quarta Cinerum and formerly known in Poland as Introductory Wednesday, as the beginning of the 40-day period of penance, preparing for the feast of the Lord’s Resurrection, was established by Pope Gregory I the Great.