The Maronite, Chaldean and the Syro-Malabar Catholic Churches are notable amongst the Eastern rites employing the use of ashes on this day.

16–18).Traditionally, it is considered to mark the beginning of the spring season, a notion which was used symbolically in Ivan Bunin's critically acclaimed story, Pure Monday.

[6] Eating meat, eggs and dairy products is traditionally forbidden to Orthodox Christians throughout Lent, which begins with Clean Monday.

This has created the tradition of eating elaborate dishes based on seafood (shellfish, molluscs, fish roe etc.).

Clean Monday is a public holiday in Greece and Cyprus, where it is celebrated with outdoor excursions, the consumption of shellfish and other fasting food,[b] a special kind of azyme bread, baked only on that day, named "lagana" (Greek: λαγάνα) and the widespread custom of flying kites,[2] as it symbolises "trying to reach the Divine".