Ash Wednesday marks the start of the Lent season

BILOXI, Miss. (WXXV)- Ash Wednesday services filled the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary as worshippers gathered to celebrate the start of Lent season.

Lent is a 40-day period of prayer, fasting, and reflection leading up to Easter.

Worshippers gathered inside the historic Biloxi cathedral where church leaders blessed and distributed ashes, gently tracing the Sign of the Cross on foreheads as a symbol of repentance and human mortality.

The final Ash Wednesday Mass is scheduled for 6 p.m. this evening.