This Lent, God calls upon us to once again grow in our prayer, fasting, and charity.
Ash Wednesday
Aid to the Church in Need’s call to the faithful to reflect this Lenten season on the persecution of Christians has taken on more urgency with the news that a Nigerian priest was found murdered on Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent.
Pope Francis marked Ash Wednesday on his 20th day in Rome’s Gemelli hospital by taking part in the rite of the blessing of the ashes and receiving them in a short prayer service, the Vatican said.
The journey of Lent “unfolds amid the remembrance of our fragility and the hope that, at the end of the road, the Risen Lord is waiting for us,” Pope Francis wrote in his homily for Ash Wednesday.
Pope Francis remained in stable condition and did not suffer another respiratory episode a day after having “an isolated crisis of bronchospasm” that worsened his previously improving medical condition, the Vatican said.
While Pope Francis’ condition has continued to improve, the Vatican announced that he will not lead his traditional Ash Wednesday services in Rome March 5.
Catholic couples and liturgical experts are advising how to observe Ash Wednesday — the beginning of the Latin Church’s penitential season of Lent leading up to Easter — which falls on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, this year.
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.