A parishioner receives ashes from Bishop Robert Brennan. (Photo: Alicia Venter) DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Prayer. Fasting. Almsgiving. These are the three pillars of Lent. For many, that involves sacrificing something simple, such as giving up coffee or junk food. But for Bishop Robert Brennan, the 40-day season is also a time to take on a […]
Ash Wednesday, on Feb. 14 this year, takes place on an earlier date than some years, which raises questions about why the holy day is not on a set spot on the calendar.
Two very different days converge this year when Ash Wednesday falls on Valentine’s Day. The day of romance meeting up with the day of fasting starting the season of Lent is a rare thing. Researchers point out this has happened a few times in the 1900s: 1923, 1934, and 1945, and in this century, researchers at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate said this overlap also happened in 2018 and will occur again in 2029 but that’s it for this century.
People from across the Diocese of Brooklyn came to Cathedral Basilica of St. James for an Ash Wednesday service that served as the first stop on a journey for Lent designed to draw Catholics back to the Church.
As Pope Francis and Catholics throughout the world did on Ash Wednesday, March 2, Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory prayed and expressed solidarity with the people of Ukraine as they are enduring a brutal Russian military invasion of their country.
Prayer, charity and fasting have a medicinal power to purify oneself, help others and change history, Pope Francis wrote in a homily read by Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
Among the world’s supply shortage, add to it the palm frond.
Priests in the Philippines will be allowed to mark the foreheads of Catholics on Ash Wednesday, ending a two-year ban on the Lenten tradition due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christians must persevere in generously doing good in the world, bolstered by prayer and by fighting evil in their own lives, including an addiction to digital media, Pope Francis said.
As the threat of war loomed over the world, Pope Francis called on people to pray and fast for peace in Ukraine on Ash Wednesday.
