Priests make the mark of the cross by applying ash on the foreheads of the faithful during Mass.
CDN Photo/Junjie Mendoza
AS the 40-day Lenten season kicked off with yesterday’s observance of Ash Wednesday, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma called on the people to ponder upon God’s all-encompassing love.
“While we think about the love of parents, spouses, and friends, there is a love greater than all these: God’s love is above all,” he said.
Palma presided over a Mass at the Our Lady of Consolation Parish in Talisay City to mark Ash Wednesday.
The 67-year-old prelate placed ashes in the form of the cross on the forehead of each churchgoer, saying, “Repent and believe in the Gospel,” or, “Remember, man, that you are dust and unto dust you shall return.”
The ashes used came from burnt palms blessed during last year’s Palm Sunday.
They were sprinkled with holy water or oil and smoked with incense.
All Catholics are required to fast and abstain. Catholics aged 18 to 60 are obliged to fast or to eat less on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday which is March 30 this year.
Fasting, which refers to eating only one complete meal and two smaller ones, is relaxed for ailing people.
Also on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays of Lent, Catholics aged at least 14 years old are obliged to abstain from eating meat.