Coast residents attend Ash Wednesday Mass

After Fat Tuesday, the Lenten season begins. For some parishioners on our Coast that means attending mass on Ash Wednesday.

During a typical Ash Wednesday Mass, ashes are smeared across the foreheads of believers in the sign of a cross. In order to limit contact this year, the ashes were sprinkled instead.

At the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Biloxi, this was done to ensure safety among parishioners that attended church early Wednesday morning. Churchgoer Margaret Penjamin said, “It’s still symbolic. You’re still receiving the ashes on your hair or your forehead. You’re still reminding yourself I come from God and God is whom I’ll return too. I don’t find the placement of where on your body to be that big of a deal.”