Archbishop to Celebrate Ash Wednesday Mass Downtown

Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron will celebrate the annual Ash Wednesday Mass at 12:15 p.m. on March 5 at St. Aloysius Church in downtown Detroit. Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent, a season of conversion for Christians which culminates in Easter Sunday. The imposition of ashes at Mass on Ash Wednesday replicates an ancient penitential practice and symbolizes a person’s dependence upon God’s mercy and forgiveness.

This year, Archbishop Vigneron is asking Catholics to begin on Ash Wednesday a yearlong effort of prayer, called a “Year of Prayer for a New Pentecost.” The initiative will last from March 5, 2013 until April 5, 2015 (Easter Sunday). In a letter to Catholics distributed through parishes this past weekend, the Archbishop called the last five years in the Archdiocese of Detroit – years which brought a major pastoral planning process and a $135 million capital initiative – “a time of practical preparation for mission.” In the coming year, he explained, the Church will be praying for guidance from the Holy Spirit to fulfill the Church’s purpose. The term “Pentecost” alludes to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles following Christ’s ascension into heaven. It is considered the birthday of the Church.

“The year of prayer for a new Pentecost aims to provide us with the spiritual preparation we need in order to engage more effectively the first of our mission priorities, namely, evangelization,” Archbishop Vigneron wrote in his letter to area Catholics. “Evangelization is… something that many of us are unfamiliar with, and perhaps a little fearful of, in that it calls for a reconsideration of who Jesus is in our own lives and a new openness to sharing that experience with others.”

Archbishop Vigneron will be available for reporters prior to celebrating Ash Wednesday Mass.

Event Summary

What: Ash Wednesday Mass with Archbishop Allen Vigneron; an introduction of the “Year of Prayer for a New Pentecost.”

When: 12:15 p.m. on Wendesday, March 5

Where: St. Aloysius Church, 1234 Washington Boulevard in Detroit

Info: For media inquiries, please contact the Archdiocese Communications Department at (313) 237-5943 or e-mail proffice@aod.org.

Coverage note: Reporters, photographers and videographers are invited to cover this event. To persevere the dignity of the Mass, we ask that camera operators refrain from using flashes, or any other form of artificial lighting; and that special care be taken not to impede processions for ashes or communion. Thank you in advance for heeding any instructions you may receive from the staff at St. Aloysius Church.