Kota Kinabalu: Roman Catholic faithful in the city and elsewhere gathered at various churches to celebrate Ash Wednesday - one of the most popular and important days in the liturgical calendar.
Majority, if not all places of worship, experienced full house on Wednesday starting with scheduled masses at 6.30am and continued until the last evening prayer session.
Catholic faithful believe that Ash Wednesday opens Lent, a season of fasting and prayer.
The holy Ash Wednesday takes place 40 days before Easter Sunday and chiefly observed by Catholics, although many other Christians observe it too.
It has been a practice and tradition for churchgoers to wear ashes on the forehead, which symbolises the dust from which God made us.
As the priest applies the ashes to a person’s forehead after the holy Ash Wednesday mass, he speaks:
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”.
It is not required that a person wears the ashes for the rest of the day, and they may be washed off after mass.
However, many faithful keep the ashes as a reminder until evening.
* Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss.
* Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
