Orange County Christians mark Ash Wednesday with COVID-19-related changes

Parishioners celebrated Ash Wednesday outdoors this year at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Newport Beach as the pandemic has forced changes to some first day of Lent traditions.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange said in a statement that parishes followed protocol approved by the Holy See, which calls for the sprinkling of ashes on a person’s head. Individual parishes may have also allowed the American practice of tracing a cross on the forehead.

For this year, the diocese also said that priests would only say the formula one time in a general way before the ashes were distributed.

“As we prepare for the triumph of the resurrection in this time of a pandemic, we are forced to examine the meaning of Lent, the suffering of Jesus Christ and the suffering of our neighbors and friends,” said Bishop Kevin Vann in a statement.

“We become closer to God by lifting up our hearts in prayer, sacrificing our own needs and giving of ourselves to help our sickest and neediest brothers and sisters,” Vann said.

Easter will be celebrated on Sunday, April 4 this year.

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