| 17 Wednesday | |
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| violet | Ash Wednesday | |
| | Mass of Ash Wednesday; after the sign of the cross and greeting, the penitential act is omitted.
Preface of Lent III or IV. |
| | [219] Joel 2: 12-18; Ps 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14+17; 2 Cor 5:20-6:2; Matt 6:1-6, 16-18 |
| | (Switch to Vol. II of the Lit. of the Hours.)
Hours of Ash Wednesday; Psalter Week 4 today and until Saturday.
Today at Morning Prayer, the psalms of Friday, Week 3 may be used. |
| | The celebrant blesses and distributes ashes after the homily.
Other persons may be associated with the bishop or priest in the imposition of ashes, e.g., deacons, special ministers of communion and other lay persons, when there is true pastoral need. |
| Special ministers of communion and deacons may bring blessed ashes to the sick and those confined to their homes. If a minister is not available, a member of the family or another person may bring the blessed ashes to a shut-in, using one of the formulas in the Roman Missal to impose ashes. |
| For pastoral reasons the blessing and distribution of ashes may take place outside Mass. In this case, the entire liturgy of the word should be celebrated: entrance song, opening prayer, readings and chants, homily, blessing and distribution of ashes, and general intercessions. See the Book of Blessings, nos. 1656ff. |
| | Lunar New Year (Year of the Rabbit). |
On this day in our Jesuit history...
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| 1553 | Xavier's coffin is opened and his body is found incorrupt, seventy- seven days after death. |
| 1673 | Moliere, age 51, dies in Paris, hours after playing the leading role in his play, the Imaginary Invalid. Jesuit Alumnus. |
| 1832 | Jesuits returned to Portugal, where one of their earliest tasks was to prepare and preside at the services for the as-yet unburied body of Pombal, the man who had banished the Society from Portugal in 1759. |
| 1900 | The Scholasticate at Grand Coteau, LA burns and is left in ashes. |
| 1970 | Augustine Ellard, S.J. dies One of the three founders of Review for Religious. |
| 1978 | Georgetown University confers a degree on Archbishop Oscar Romero in the Cathedral of San Salvador, for his leadership for justice and human rights. He will die a martyr for justice. |
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