Our faith remains strong in this time of the pandemic

The Christian period of penitence, Lent, begins this week with Ash Wednesday on February 17. These are the six weeks before Easter Sunday on Holy Week. Ash Wednesday is named from the rite of placing ashes on the foreheads of participants with the words “Repent and believe in the Gospel” or “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

Ashes are ceremonially placed on the heads of Christians on Ash Wednesday either by being sprinkled over their heads or, more often, by being marked on their foreheads in a cross. On Ash Wednesday, the Pope, bishop of Rome, traditionally takes part in a procession from the Church of Saint Anselm to the Basilica of Santa Sabina where, in accordance with the custom in Italy and many other countries, ashes are sprinkled on the head rather than marked on the forehead