Father Michael Grzesik and Deacon Mark Buckley led a prayer service including burning palms with students from St. Bede School at Our Lady of the Lakes Parish , St. Bede Church Site, in Ingleside on Shrove Tuesday, March 5, 2019. The ashes were distributed on Ash Wednesday, March 6, 2019, which marked the start of Lent in the Latin-rite church.
Growing our hearts this Lent I don’t know about you, but I often mentally brace myself for Lent. The season feels so long, so winter-ridden, and in this time of lingering pandemic, especially isolating. Yet, the Online Etymology Dictionary reminds me that Lent comes from an Old English word meaning “lengthening of the day,” “spring.”
Lent is time to grow in faith, hope, love and to share them, pope says As Christians pray, fast and give alms during Lent, they also should consider giving a smile and offering a kind word to people feeling alone or frightened because of the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis said.
For Ash Wednesday, Vatican asks priests to 'sprinkle' ashes on heads The Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments asked priests to take special anti-COVID-19 precautions this year when distributing ashes on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17, including sprinkling ashes on the top of people's heads rather than using them to make a cross on people's foreheads.