Hyderabad: The Lent season started for Christians with morning mass on Ash Wednesday. The day marked the beginning of the 40-day fasting period.
Priests blessed devotees and made the mark of the Cross on their foreheads with ash as a symbol of repentance.The ash is produced from burning of palm leaves used during Palm Sunday services the previous year.
Vicar General Father Swarna Bernard of the Hyderabad Archdiocese said, “The words, ‘Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return’ remind believers of their mortality on Ash Wednesday.”
Lent is a solemn observance that believers undertake to prepare themselves for the feast of resurrection of Christ.
“During this period, all adults take up fasting from Ash Wednesday up to Good Friday; many, as a mark of sacrifice, abstain from meat.
Many also quit drinking and smoking during these 40 days. In doing so, they try to emulate Christ’s sacrifice.”
Important dates
March 20: Palm Sunday
March 24: Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday)
March 25: Good Friday
March 26: Holy Saturday (Easter evening mass)
March 27: Easter
