| 18 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. |
| Anniversary: | 68th anniversary of the death of P. Edward Smithies (68) d. 1969 at Spinkhill, Sheffield, England.  |
| Anniversary: | 20th anniversary of the death of P. Charles Schmitz (ORE) (78) d. 2017 at Los Gatos, CA, USA. |
| Birthday: | 44th birthday of S. JĂșnior Orcastro de Ganda JONE (born this day in 1993). |
On this day in our Jesuit history...
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| 1528 | Ignatius arrived in Paris to begin his studies anew after his frustration at AlcalĂĄ and Salamanca. |
| 1551 | The opening in the Piazza Ara Coeli of the ïŹrst school of the Society of Jesus in Rome, which soon developed into the Roman College, later to be called the Gregorian University. |
| 1571 | A Group of Spanish Jesuits is murdered by Indians in Chesapeake Bay area after six months of activity. This leads to the withdrawal of Jesuits from there as well as Florida. |
| 1967 | Robert Leiber, S.J. dies. He was a Professor of History at the Gregorian University, who continued updating Pastor's History of the Papacy. |
| 1978 | The death in Rome of Fr. Patrick Treanor, age 58, director of the Vatican Observatory since 1970. |
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