Archdiocese of Newark enters Lent, celebrates Ash Wednesday (Photos)
On Ash Wednesday — this year on Feb. 14 — Catholics began the season of Lent, a 40-day period of prayer, penance, almsgiving, and fasting intended to prepare us for Easter and bring us closer to God.
The Ash Wednesday tradition involves receiving a cross-shaped mark of ashes on the forehead as a symbolic gesture, reminding individuals of their mortal imperfections, and extending an invitation to seek forgiveness from God. Across various Christian denominations, believers observe this holy season for 40 days before Easter.
The ashes are from the burnt palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday.
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, celebrated two Masses on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 14, at St. Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral in Newark in English and Spanish.
In parishes and Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Newark, parishioners and students celebrated Masses and received ashes, an outward profession of their faith and a poignant reminder of their mortality.
