Ash Wednesday: Churches across Mumbai to pray for peace in war-torn Ukraine
By Team Newsable | First Published Mar 2, 2022, 9:51 AM ISTThe season of prayer and penance will end on Easter Sunday, April 17.
Lent, the annually Christian fasting season, begins on Ash Wednesday, March 2. On this day, churches across the city will heed Pope Francis' call to pray for peace in war-hit Ukraine.
The season of prayer and penance will end on Easter Sunday, April 17.
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On Ash Wednesday and all Lent Fridays, Archbishop of Bombay Oswald Cardinal Gracias urged Catholics to abstain from eating meat. The archbishop has committed that the Lenten alms received this year towards St Pius X College, Goregaon, the diocesan seminary.
Individual churches demonstrate their support to war-torn Ukraine. The parish priest of Holy Family Church in Chakala, Fr Vincent Vaz, said they would follow the Pope's message and pray for affected Ukrainians.
On Tuesday, one of the city's largest parishes, Our Lady of Lourdes Orlem, Malad, reserved a mass for peace in Ukraine. The parish priest Fr Michael Pinto said that one of the MBBS students from the parish is stranded in Ukraine. He said the student's parents are worried; however, the church is taking care of them.
Fr Michael added that the OL Lourdes had planned a full calendar of Lenten observances. He said the adoration night would take place on Wednesday from 10 pm to 1 am. In a tangible manner of supporting people, the church will stock the placed communal fridge with eggs, milk, and food for the poor and hungry and TB patients. The church will provide English classes to members of the transgender community whom the church has adopted.
Another parish priest of St Andrew's Church in Bandra, Fr Clarence Fonseca, stated that they would conduct special Ash Wednesday masses in the morning and evening, putting Ash to the foreheads of those who come to be blessed. Around 400 people are scheduled to attend in the morning, with many more expected in the evening.
Oswald Cardinal Gracias, the archbishop of Bombay, urged Catholics to refrain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and all Lent Fridays. He recommended that households and institutions abstain from eating meat on Fridays throughout the year.
Attending mass, reading the Scriptures at home, skipping a meal, and avoiding smoking, alcohol, television, mobile phones, and the internet were among the Cardinal's suggestions for prayer and penance. He advised Catholics to give 10 per cent of their daily wages to charity, feed a needy family, donate blood or undertake community service, visit the sick, and protect the environment.
Members of the Archdiocese's armed forces and security personnel, as well as travellers by land, sea, or air, and medical workers engaging in pandemic relief operations, were granted a dispensation from penance and fasting, as per the Cardinal Gracias.
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