{"id":117187,"date":"2026-02-18T16:06:05","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/117187\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T16:06:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:06:05","slug":"lent-begins-with-ash-wednesday-feb-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/117187\/","title":{"rendered":"Lent Begins with Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By CatholicPhilly Staff \u2022 Posted February 18, 2026 <\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Ash Wednesday Schedule at the Cathedral Basilica<\/p>\n<p>11:30 a.m. \u2013 Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (Basilica)<br \/>\n12:05 p.m. \u2013 Holy Mass with the distribution of blessed ashes (Basilica)<br \/>\n5:15 p.m. \u2013 Holy Mass with the distribution of blessed ashes (Basilica)<br \/>\n7:00 p.m. \u2013 Holy Mass with the distribution of blessed ashes (Chapel, Spanish)<\/p>\n<p>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, <a href=\"https:\/\/archphila.org\/parish\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">please visit here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As you begin your Lenten journey, you may find it helpful to read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vatican.va\/content\/leo-xiv\/en\/messages\/lent\/documents\/20260205-messaggio-quaresima.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Pope Leo XIV\u2019s Message for Lent<\/a>, titled \u201cListening and Fasting: Lent as a Time of Conversion.\u201d In it he reflects on listening to God\u2019s word, the spiritual purpose of fasting \u2014 and the invitation to abstain \u201cfrom words that offend and hurt our neighbor \u2014 and the importance of walking together as a community of faith. His message invites the Church to \u201cplace the mystery of God back in the center of our lives\u201d and to embrace Lent as a season of renewed attentiveness, compassion, and conversion.<\/p>\n<p>Rules for abstinence from meat and fasting during Lent:<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>All are encouraged to consider voluntary acts of fasting, good works, and prayer throughout Lent as a way to deepen their spiritual preparation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By CatholicPhilly Staff \u2022 Posted February 18, 2026 The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[55642,55643,55481,55644,55645,69,71,70,1841,55646],"class_list":["post-117187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-ash-wednesday","tag-blessed-ashes","tag-cathedral-basilica-of-ss-peter-and-paul","tag-lent-2026","tag-lent-in-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-pope-leo-xiv","tag-popes-message-for-lent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}