Tomorrow, Wednesday, 22 February 2023, the Church begins the Holy season of Lent: 40 days of prayer and penance in preparation for the celebration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Archbishop Charles Jude Scicluna will celebrate Mass on Ash Wednesday in the Church of the Immaculate Conception (Sarria) in Floriana, which includes the blessing and placing of ashes. The Mass starts at 9:30 a.m. and is broadcast on TVM, Knisja.mt, Newsbook.com.mt and Radio 103.
In his message for this year’s Lent, Pope Francis invites Catholics not to take refuge in a “religiosity made up of extraordinary events and dramatic experiences”, out of fear of facing reality and its daily struggles, its hardships and contradictions. “The light that Jesus shows the disciples is an anticipation of Easter glory, and that must be the goal of our own journey, as we follow ‘him alone’. Lent leads to Easter: it is not an end in itself, but a means of preparing us to experience the Lord’s passion and cross with faith, hope and love, and thus to arrive at the resurrection.”
During the period of Lent, the Church encourages Christians to read the Word of God, participate in the sacraments and in spiritual exercises. This year, the Archdiocese of Malta, together with the Parish Secretariat, has prepared the website https://hinijiet.knisja.mt/ which includes celebrations and activities related to Lent. The days and times of spiritual exercises, as well as activities linked to Holy Week in parishes in Malta, may be found on this website which shall be updated throughout Lent.
During this time, one can also access soter.church.mt which includes original and traditional prayers that speak to contemporary Maltese reality. The prayer includes five collections of paintings, specially produced by Maltese artists to accompany the prayer, so as to remind us of the light of the Gospel that floods our islands, as Pope Francis reminded us in his Apostolic Visit last year.