This February 22 will be celebrated on Ash Wednesday; According to the Catholic liturgical calendar, with this festivity Lent begins, a time of preparation to celebrate the Easter of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In the Cathedral of Santa Cruz they will officiate masses at 8:00 and 18:30the first will be chaired by the Archbishop, Monsignor René Leigue Cesarí, and concelebrated by Bishops Estanislao Dowlaszewicz and Sergio Gualberti. The second mass will be celebrated by Monsignor Sergio Gualberti, Archbishop emeritus of Santa Cruz. The celebration will also take place in the different parishes of the archdiocese.

“With the imposition of the ashes, a particularly relevant spiritual season begins for all Christians who want to prepare themselves worthily to live the Paschal Mystery, that is, the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus,” says an institutional bulletin from the Archbishopric of Santa Cruz. .

The Catholic portal Catholic Link points out that the ashes were used as a sign of repentance in the Old Testament, but they are also “a public sign of our intent to die to the desires of the world and live in Christ. They also symbolize mourning, in this case, for our sin.”

During the imposition of the ashes, the priest draw a cross on the forehead of the faithful, while repeating the words: “Convert and believe in the Gospel” or: “Remember what dust you are and to dust you will return.”

During the pandemic by Covid -19, the Vatican modified the rite to avoid physical contact; so, instead of tracing the cross with the ashes, the priest dropped it on the heads of the faithful. In addition, traditional words are said only once and in a general way.

The ashes used in this ceremony are obtained from whatBurn the remains of the blessed palms Palm Sunday of the previous year. These are sprayed with Holy Water and then they are flavored with incense.