Ash Wednesday kicks off Lenten season

February 17, 2022

The Lenten season kicks off on March 2 with Ash Wednesday, beginning a period of 40 days of practices intended to move the faithful to a true inner conversion of heart to follow Christ more faithfully in order to more fruitfully celebrate the great feast of the Lord’s resurrection at Easter.

Pope Francis is asking the faithful and nonbelievers alike to pray and fast for peace in Ukraine on Ash Wednesday. "I invite everyone to make March 2, Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting for peace," he said. "I encourage believers in a special way to devote themselves intensely to prayer and fasting on that day. May the Queen of Peace protect the world from the folly of war."

During Lent, the Catholic Church encourages the faithful to practice three pillars: pray, give alms to the poor, and fast. 

Prayer
For prayer and reflection opportunities, go to theemmaushouse.org. Located in Urbandale, Emmaus House offers spiritual resources including spiritual direction, retreats, days of recollection and more.

Alms

Giving alms means donating money or goods to the poor and sharing God’s gifts of time and talents. Go to CatholicCharitiesDM.org for service opportunities. Catholic Charities also offers the CRS Rice Bowl, a Lenten tradition that gives people an opportunity to support the work of Catholic Relief Services.

Fast/Abstain

Catholics are called to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and abstain from meat on those days plus all Fridays during Lent. Here is more information on the guidelines for fasting and abstaining.

The faithful also are called to self-discipline and fast in other ways.  Exodus 90 is a program that outlines various practices to help people tune out distractions and focus on their relationship with God. Learn more here. 

To help families find ways to deepen their faith during Lent, the Diocese has created resources with ideas that are age appropriate for young children. Find them on this page.

Catholic News Service contributed to this story.