Today is Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent for the thousands of Roman Catholics who live in mid-Missouri.
Churches are holding numerous masses and services, and Catholics will wear a marking of the cross in ash on their foreheads today. The ashes essentially symbolize mortality and penance.
Columbia’s Our Lady of Lourdes will hold five masses today: 6:30 am, 8 am, noon, 5:30 and 7 pm. Columbia’s Newman Center will hold six masses today: 7 am, noon, 4 pm at Jesse Hall, and then at 5, 7 and 9 pm. Jefferson City’s St. Peter Catholic Church next to the Missouri Capitol plans four masses today: 8 am, 10 am, 12:03 pm and 7 pm.
