This image made its way around the globe in 2020. It was perhaps the first time Pope Francis could be seen out in public with a cold. It was on the Aventine Hill on Ash Wednesday.
This is where the Lenten season begins in Rome, with a procession from the Basilica of St. Anselm to the Basilica of St. Sabina.
This year though, Pope Francis will begin Lent from the Altar of the Chair of St. Peter in St. Peter's Basilica, where he has celebrated important liturgies throughout the pandemic.
It will be an unusual Ash Wednesday, and Pope Francis has asked Catholics to use this Lenten season as a time to renew faith, hope and charity.
POPE FRANCIS
February 26, 2020
“Lent is not a time for useless sermons, but for recognizing that our lowly ashes are loved by God. It is a time of grace, a time for letting God gaze upon us with love and in this way change our lives.”
The celebration this year will take place the morning of Feb. 17. Attendance will be limited and health safety measures will be in place.
The rite of the imposition of the ashes has also been adapted because of the pandemic. This year the ashes won't be placed on people's foreheads but sprinkled over each person's head.
Instead of saying “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” to each person individually, the priest will say those words only once to the entire assembly.
Daniel Díaz Vizzi
Translation: CT
