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Pope Leo XIV marked the beginning of Lent on Wednesday with the traditional Ash Wednesday liturgy, urging Catholics worldwide to embrace a period of sincere spiritual renewal. The pontiff began the day at the Benedictine Abbey of Sant’Anselmo in Rome before joining the short procession to the nearby Basilica of Santa Sabina, where he blessed the ashes and traced the sign of the cross on the foreheads of the faithful.
The rite of distributing ashes signals the start of the Lenten season for more than 1.3 billion Catholics around the globe. During his general audience on St. Peter’s Square, Leo XIV encouraged believers to embark on a path of interior transformation. Addressing Spanish‑speaking pilgrims in particular, he recommended a “fasting from words” — refraining from speech that wounds others. Such restraint, he noted, is “very concrete and often little appreciated.”
Warning Against “Distractions of Daily Life”
Echoing themes from his Lenten message issued on 5 February, the Pope urged Christians to “place the mystery of God once again at the center of our lives.” Only then, he said, can faith regain vitality and the heart avoid being lost in the “restlessness and distractions of everyday life.” Lent, he emphasized, is an invitation to reach Easter renewed in spirit.
“Let us ask the Lord to prepare our hearts to hear his word and put it into practice,” he said, calling on the faithful to renounce gestures and comments that harm others and distance them from God’s mercy.
To German‑speaking pilgrims, the Pope expressed his hope that they would receive the graces of this season “with open hearts,” so that these weeks may “bear abundant fruits of salvation for us and for our brothers and sisters.” Speaking to English‑speaking visitors, he stressed that genuine conversion must be reflected in sharing God’s love with those around us.
- Hector Pascua with reports from oe24.at/picture: www.vaticannews.va
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