Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez will be the main celebrant and homilist at the Ash Wednesday Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Wednesday, February 26, 2020.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent for Christians throughout the world. Lent is a 40-day penitential time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving from Ash Wednesday through Holy Thursday in preparation for the Easter celebration.
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
12:05 p.m.
Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul
18th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Faithful across the Archdiocese will receive blessed ashes on their foreheads, marked in the sign of a cross, reminding them to repent and believe in the Gospel as the 2020 Lenten Season begins. In addition to the celebration of Mass with the distribution of Ashes, there will be Celebrations of the Word of God and the distribution of Ashes in each of the nursing facilities within the parish boundaries on Ash Wednesday.
The Cathedral Parish offers the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation on weekdays beginning at 11:30 a.m. for the Lenten Season in addition to other scheduled times. Alternative dates and times for this Sacrament are available at individual parishes throughout the Archdiocese.
The Bishops of the United States prescribe that all Catholic persons who are fourteen years of age and older should abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and all the Fridays of Lent. 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.
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Editor’s Note: Ash Wednesday Mass in the Cathedral will be streamed live on Wednesday, February 26.
Streaming link: https://vimeo.com/event/23315
Embed Code: <iframe src=”https://vimeo.com/event/23315/embed” width=”640″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″ allow=”autoplay; fullscreen” allowfullscreen></iframe>
For Ash Wednesday Mass, a press audio/video mult-box clean feed will be provided in the Cathedral parking lot with multiple HD-SDI video (BNC) and mic/line (XLR) connections. Crews will need a live truck or recording device. Television cameras will not be permitted in the Cathedral. Reporters and still photographers will be permitted in the Cathedral.
Please contact Daniel Kearns with any technical concerns at 215-888-0305 (cell).
Contact: Alyssa McFadden
Communications Assistant
215-587-3747 (office)