By CatholicPhilly Staff • Posted February 18, 2026
The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. The Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia will offer several opportunities to attend Mass and receive blessed ashes throughout the day.
Ash Wednesday Schedule at the Cathedral Basilica
11:30 a.m. – Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (Basilica)
12:05 p.m. – Holy Mass with the distribution of blessed ashes (Basilica)
5:15 p.m. – Holy Mass with the distribution of blessed ashes (Basilica)
7:00 p.m. – Holy Mass with the distribution of blessed ashes (Chapel, Spanish)
Parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Philadelphia will offer a full schedule of Masses with distribution of blessed ashes. To find a Catholic church near you, please visit here.
As you begin your Lenten journey, you may find it helpful to read Pope Leo XIV’s Message for Lent, titled “Listening and Fasting: Lent as a Time of Conversion.” In it he reflects on listening to God’s word, the spiritual purpose of fasting — and the invitation to abstain “from words that offend and hurt our neighbor — and the importance of walking together as a community of faith. His message invites the Church to “place the mystery of God back in the center of our lives” and to embrace Lent as a season of renewed attentiveness, compassion, and conversion.
Rules for abstinence from meat and fasting during Lent:
The Bishops of the United States prescribe, as a minimal obligation, that all persons who are 14 years of age and older are bound to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday, on all the Fridays of Lent and Good Friday.
Further, all persons 18 years of age and older, up to and including their 59th birthday, are bound to fast by limiting themselves to a single full meal on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday, while the other two meals on those days are to be light.
All are encouraged to consider voluntary acts of fasting, good works, and prayer throughout Lent as a way to deepen their spiritual preparation.