Christians in Nigeria have joined other Christians acrossthe world to begin Lent period with the symbolic Ash Wednesday.
Catholic faithful in Lagos were not left out as Parishioners started arriving early for the mass celebration at the St Leo catholic church and also to get the ash mark which symbolises the beginning of the 2025 40-day fasting and prayers.
For Catholics ages between 18 and 59 fasting is mandatory on Ash Wednesday.
For those here and Some other Christians, the next forty days would be time of intense prayers, abstinence, fasting and almsgiving.
So one after the other their forehead was marked.
The priest said the ash on their foreheads is a sign of repentance and a reminder that we all come from ash and will someday return to ash.
Meanwhile, The Ash comes from the burning of Palms collected during Palm Sunday and mixed with blessed water.
The Parish Priest St Leo Catholic Church Monsignor John and
Parishioners who spoke on significance of Ash Wednesday and what is expected of them during this period, said it’s a time of sober Reflections and abstinence.
