Catholic faithful worldwide began the 40-day Lent period on February 14, with the symbolic ash Wednesday ahead of the Easter season.
Senior Correspondent Ivy Kanu reports that most Catholic faithful in Lagos were not left out.
Though a working day, 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 2024 40-day fasting and prayers.
Fasting is mandatory on Ash Wednesday for Catholics ages between 18 and
59.
The ash comes from the burning of palms collected during palm Sunday and mixed with blessed water
For Catholics, the next forty days would be time of intense prayers, abstinence, fasting and almsgiving.
Ash Wednesday is the kickoff of that season that is one of five on the Catholic liturgical calendar, along with Advent, Christmas, Easter, and Ordinary Time.
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.
Parishioners spoke on significance and what is expected of them during this period.
Coincidentally, in 2018, ash Wednesday also fell on the same day as Valentine’s Day.
