Antiphon 1 and Responsory:Let us change our garments to sackcloth and ashes, let us fast and weep before the Lord, that our God, rich in mercy, might forgive us our sins.Let us correct our faults which we have committed in ignorance, let us not be taken unawares by the day of our death, looking in vain for leisure to repent. Hear us, O Lord, and show us your mercy, for we have sinned against you. Pope Francis has everyone to participate in a Day of Fasting for Peace on this Ash Wednesday. See his General Audience on February 23, 2022 for more details.Ash Wednesday, the Beginning of Lent:The time has now come in the Church year for the solemn observance of the great central act of history, the redemption of the human race by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In the Roman Rite, the beginning of the forty days of penance is marked with the austere symbol of ashes which is used in today’s liturgy. The use of ashes is a survival from an ancient rite according to which converted sinners submitted themselves to canonical penance. The Alleluia and the Gloria are suppressed until Easter.