Wishing you a blessed Season of Lent

Dear Parishioners,

As we approach Ash Wednesday, I would like to offer a brief explanation of how we will be distributing ashes in our parish this year.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a sacred season of repentance, conversion, and renewed trust in God’s mercy. 

The ashes themselves are a biblical sign of humility and repentance. In Sacred Scripture, placing ashes on one’s head is associated with turning back to God: “I turned to the Lord God, to seek an answer by prayer and supplication with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes” (Daniel 9:3). “If the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” (Matthew 11:21)

The Church blesses ashes made from the palms of the previous year’s Palm Sunday, and the priest prays that those who receive them may begin Lent with sincere hearts (cf. Roman Missal, Ash Wednesday).

This year, the ashes will be sprinkled on the head, rather than traced as a cross on the forehead. This practice is fully legitimate and officially permitted by the Roman Catholic Church. In fact, the Roman Missal itself states clearly: “The Priest places ashes on the head of those present” (Roman Missal, Ash Wednesday, no. 22).

While marking the forehead with a cross is a custom familiar in many places, sprinkling ashes on the head is the older and more universal practice, and it remains the norm in Rome and in many parts of the world.

Sprinkling the ashes emphasizes their biblical meaning: not a mark or decoration, but a sign of humility before God. It reminds us that we stand together as sinners in need of mercy, echoing the words spoken during the rite: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). This way of distributing ashes also allows the rite to be carried out simply, reverently, and safely, without altering its meaning or diminishing its spiritual value.

What matters most is not the form of the gesture, but the interior disposition of the heart. By receiving ashes, we publicly express our desire to begin Lent in repentance, trusting not in ourselves, but in the mercy of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

May this Lent be a time of grace, humility, healing, and renewal for all.

With prayerful best wishes,

Fr Augusto Menichelli

Pastor