CNBNews

Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez will be the principal celebrant and homilist at the 12:05 p.m. Ash Wednesday Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul on Wednesday, March 2, 2022.

 

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent for Christians throughout the world. Lent is a 40-day period of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving from Ash Wednesday through Holy Thursday in preparation for the celebration of the sacred Paschal Triduum.

 

Blessed Ashes will be distributed to the faithful at all the Masses, reminding them to repent and believe in the Gospel as the Lenten Season begins. Mass will also be celebrated at 7:15 a.m. (Chapel) and 5:15 p.m. (Basilica). In addition to the celebration of Mass with the distribution of Blessed Ashes, there will be Celebrations of the Word of God and the distribution of Blessed Ashes in the hospitals and nursing facilities within the parish boundaries on Ash Wednesday.

 

The Bishops of the United States prescribe, as a minimal obligation, that all persons who are fourteen years of age and older are bound to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday, on all the Fridays of Lent and Good Friday. Further, all persons eighteen years of age and older, up to and including their fifty-ninth birthday, are bound to fast by limiting themselves to a single full meal on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday, while the other two meals on those days are to be light. Keeping a voluntary fast throughout Lent is encouraged on the part of all.

 

The Cathedral Parish will offer the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation on weekdays at 11:30 a.m. (Basilica), Saturdays at 4:15 p.m. (Basilica) and Sundays at 9:00 a.m. (Basilica), 12:00 Noon in Spanish (Chapel) and 5:30 p.m. (Basilica). Likewise, individual parishes throughout the Archdiocese may have alternative dates and times for this Sacrament in addition to already scheduled times.