Many worshipers will receive the marking of the cross in ash on their foreheads on Wednesday, meant to show that a person belongs to Jesus Christ.

A devotee with an ash cross on her forehead prays during Ash Wednesday rites March 5, 2025 at the Redemptorist Church in Manila, Philippines as Catholics in this predominantly Roman Catholic nation observe the start of lent.

The Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver held Ash Wednesday services on March 5, 2025. Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and marks the first day of Lent, the six weeks of penitence before Easter, which falls on April 20 this year.

New York’s Catholics observe the start of Lent throughout the city on Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2025. Today marks the beginning of Christianity’s 40 days of prayer, fasting and giving

Many Chicago Catholics participated in Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent.

The Very Rev. John S. Evans, the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City vicar general and moderator of the curia, presided over Ash Wednesday mass for students and faculty from St. John the Baptist Elementary,

Here are some of our favorite Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel photos from Feb. 28-March 7. Jared O’Roak, left, shares a laugh with his wife, Mary, Tuesday during the recreation of their first date at Silver Street Tavern in downtown Waterville.

FOX 17 attended Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Andrew as congregation members observed Ash Wednesday. The results are in for Donald Trump’s address to Congress—and they’re bad. Donald Trump singled out Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the person “to blame if anything goes wrong” during his speech to Congress—and Rubio’s shocked reaction was quickly spotted online.

People gathered for mass in Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross for Ash Wednesday.Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, a 40-day<a class="excerpt-read-more" href=" More

Dan Ayers, a priest with the Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs, makes the sign of the cross with ashes on a congregant's forehead at an Ash Wednesday service at St. Paul Catholic Church on March 5,