PITTSBURGH — There are changes to Ash Wednesday services in the Diocese of Pittsburgh due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Catholic Bishop David Zubik will celebrate mass and preach at noon at Divine Mercy Parish in St. Mary of Mercy Church Downtown and at 6 p.m. at Saint Paul Cathedral in Oakland. Services will be livestreamed on the diocesan website. The noon mass will be on Comcast Cable Channel 95 in Pittsburgh.
The Pittsburgh Faith and Family Channel will also carry the noon mass over the air on WPCB 40.6.
Due to the pandemic, clergy will not mark a cross with ashes on people’s foreheads. The manner in which ashes will be distributed this year is:
- clergy will bless the ashes
- the ashes will be sprinkled with holy water
- an address to all who are present
- ashes will be sprinkled on top of the head
No sign of the cross will be made with ashes on a person’s forehead as in previous years.
Those 14 and older are obliged to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesdays and on all Fridays during Lent. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, healthy people ages 18-59 are to fast by limiting themselves to one full meal and two lighter meals. Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence in the United States.
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