It's a common experience for Ash Wednesday Massgoers: The pews are packed with many attendees, many of whom are unfamiliar to regular parishioners. Who are all these people, and why are they there?

It's time for Christians around the world to start preparing for Easter. Soon, you will see Catholics with a black smudge on their forehead. The smudge will resemble a cross, at best, or a rectangle ...

FILE - Catholics pray the rosary while a priest marks people's foreheads with ashes during Ash Wednesday Mass at the Church of the Divine Child in Bogota, Colombia ...

This is the week of Ash Wednesday, a solemn day of fasting and reflection that signals the start of Lent, the most penitential season of the church calendar for Catholics and many other Christians. On ...

FILE - Catholics pray the rosary while a priest marks people's foreheads with ashes during Ash Wednesday Mass at the Church of the Divine Child in Bogota, Colombia ...

The season of Lent precedes the celebration of Easter and Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day fall on the same day this year, causing many Catholics to wonder how to ...