Just about everyone knows what Ash Wednesday looks like in metro Detroit, with active Catholics across the region bearing the mark of the cross on their foreheads.
But it turns out this year is going to be different.
With the pandemic ongoing, priests will not be drawing the shape of a cross on parishioners' foreheads this Ash Wednesday.
Because of safety concerns, priests in the Archdiocese of Detroit are being advised by leadership to instead sprinkle ashes on heads.
"In a departure from the usual practice of making the sign of the cross on the forehead of those receiving, ashes will be sprinkled on the heads of the faithful following an ancient method still common in parts of the world today," the Archdiocese of Detroit said in a statement Monday. "The Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship recommended this practice to dioceses around the world to minimize the spread of COVID-19."
For Catholics, Ash Wednesday is a day of repentance devoted to confessing their sins and reaffirming devotion to God. During Mass on Ash Wednesday, a priest traditionally places ashes on a worshipper's forehead in the shape of a cross to "symbolize both death and repentance."
Archbishop Allen Vigneron of the Archdiocese of Detroit will preside over Ash Wednesday Mass at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday in St. Aloysius Church, 1234 Washington Blvd. in downtown Detroit.
Watch it live here on the Archdiocese of Detroit's Facebook page.
