Newark, N.J. – Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, will celebrate Ash Wednesday with two Masses — one in English and one in Spanish — on February 22 at St. Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral in Newark.

Cardinal Tobin will preside over the first service in English at 12 p.m. followed by his second Mass in Spanish at 7:30 p.m. All are welcome.

Ash Wednesday is one of the most significant holy days of the liturgical calendar because it marks the beginning of Lent, the six week-period of prayer, repentance, and sacrifice leading up to Easter. During an Ash Wednesday Mass, priests traditionally place ashes — which are the charred remains of palm fronds from the prior year’s Palm Sunday — onto a parishioner’s forehead in the sign of the cross to symbolize that God made everyone out of dust, and all shall return to dust at the end of their lives. Catholics then wear the ashes for the rest of the day as a sign of penance for their sins.

Following Mass, Catholics are expected to spend Ash Wednesday fasting, repenting, and abstaining from meat. Then, over the next several weeks, the faithful will commemorate Christ’s 40 days of temptation by praying, repenting, abstaining from meat on Fridays, fasting on Good Friday, and making a Lenten sacrifice, which means giving up something they find particularly enjoyable for the entirety of Lent. This period ends on Holy Thursday, which falls on April 6 this year.

To learn more about the Archdiocese of Newark, visit www.rcan.org.

About the Archdiocese of Newark
The Archdiocese of Newark serves 1.3 million Catholics throughout Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Union counties. There are 212 parishes, 73 Catholic schools, and many missions and ministries in the Archdiocese. Hundreds of Masses are celebrated in more than a dozen languages each week. Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., the sixth archbishop of Newark, leads the Archdiocese with four auxiliary bishops. Together, they serve the northern New Jersey community through faith, education, and social services. For more information, visit www.rcan.org.

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