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See photos: Utah Christians mark Ash Wednesday as countdown to Easter begins

Ritual starts season of Lent.

(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Parishioners receive ashes during Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Salt Lake City, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.

For believers — like these at west Salt Lake City’s St. Patrick’s Catholic Church — Ash Wednesday marks, quite literally, the start of Christianity’s holiest season.

It falls on the seventh Wednesday before Easter and kicks off Lent.

Followers — including Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Episcopalians and Lutherans — put ashes on their foreheads as an outward symbol of their penitence.

Western Christians will celebrate Easter on March 31 this year. Eastern Orthodox devotees will do so May 5.

(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Deacon Sefo Manu performs a reading during Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Salt Lake City, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.

(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Parishoners attend Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Salt Lake City, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.

(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) A parishioner receives ashes during Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Salt Lake City, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.

(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Ash is presented at an altar during Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Salt Lake City, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.

(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Father Anastasius Iwuoha leads Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Salt Lake City, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.

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