(February 16, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI will usher in the annual season of Lenten on
Wednesday evening with a traditional Ash Wednesday procession, Mass and imposition
of ashes at Rome’s Aventine Hill. Lent is the annual period of 40 days (excluding
Sundays) of penance, fasting, prayers and good works in preparation for Christianity’s
most solemn feast of Easter, that commemorates the triumphant resurrection of Jesus
from death. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, when the faithful place ashes on their
foreheads as a sign of penance. Pope Benedict will begin the traditional penitential
procession from St. Anselm’s Church on the Aventine Hill and proceed to the nearby
Basilica of St. Sabina, where he will celebrate Ash Wednesday Mass including putting
on ashes on the forehead. Lent this year will culminate with Easter on April 4th.
Every year the Pope issues a Lenten message on some specific theme to help the faithful
worldwide prepare themselves adequately for this important feast on which the whole
of Christianity rests. The theme of this year’s Lenten message is justice, based
on the verse from the letter to the Romans: "The Justice of God Has Been Manifested
Through Faith in Jesus Christ." On Ash Wednesday morning, however, Pope Benedict
will hold his weekly General Audience in the Vatican as usual.