The Washington Post’s Sarah Pulliam Bailey reports that this Ash Wednesday will look remarkably different than years past, in light of the pandemic. The Christian ritual typically consists of a minister or priest placing ashes on one’s forehead in the shape of a cross, accompanied by the reminder that “you are from dust and unto dust you shall return.” Esau McCaulley, a biblical scholar at Wheaton college, said, “To remember you’re going to die isn’t going to have the shock when you have the context of half a million people have died.” Some churches are instituting socially distanced ways for members to receive their ashes and mark the holiday.