SAN DIEGO — The Catholic Church will mark the arrival of Lent this year on Wednesday, Feb. 14, with Masses and prayer services where ash will be applied to the faithful in a sign of the cross.

Catholics around the Lehigh Valley attended church services for Ash Wednesday. Monsignor Dan Yenushosky held Mass at Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Whitehall Township. See photos below.

It may appear odd, but it is a mark people that practice Christianity, mostly Catholicism, receive at mass on Ash Wednesday, one of the "most popular and important holy days" in the religion.

Pews were packed at an Ash Wednesday mass led by Miami’s Archbishop Thomas Wenski at Broward’s oldest Catholic Church earlier this afternoon. The mass, held at St. Anthony Catholic Church in ...

Jose Iglesias [email protected] Pews were packed at an Ash Wednesday mass led by Miami’s Archbishop Thomas Wenski at Broward’s oldest Catholic Church earlier this afternoon.