Ash Wednesday was observed in all local churches on February 18. It marks the beginning of the season of Lent, a time for prayer, penance, repentance and works of charity.
During the Mass, the priest smears ash on the foreheads of people to signify that ‘man is dust and to dust he shall return’.
At the St. Thomas Cathedral, San Thome, archbishop Rev. George Antonysamy celebrated Mass and applied ash on people’s foreheads.
