FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:February 20, 2012.

Brooklyn, N.Y., Feb. 20, 2012 – Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, Bishop of Brooklyn, will celebrate the 12 p.m. Mass on Wednesday, February 22, 2012, at St. James Cathedral Basilica (Jay Street and Cathedral Place, Downtown Brooklyn) to mark Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season.
Bishop DiMarzio will distribute the ashes on the foreheads of congregants during the Mass. Traditionally, the ashes used on Ash Wednesday are made by burning the blessed palms from Palm Sunday the previous year. Palm Sunday, the final Sunday before Easter, commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It also marks the beginning of Holy Week.
Lent, the Christian observance of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday, is a 40-day season of penitence and preparation for the commemoration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. It ends with the celebration of the Sacred Triduum, the three holiest days of the year: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. Easter Sunday will be celebrated this year on April 8th.