Hundreds of Catholics filled St. Patrick’s Cathedral at 7 a.m. Wednesday as Archbishop Ronald Hicks celebrated his first Ash Wednesday Mass in New York, marking the beginning of the Lenten season with prayer, repentance, and the distribution of ashes.

Archbishop Ronald Hicks is inviting Catholics across the Archdiocese of New York to embrace the 40 days ahead as a time of renewal, prayer and deeper focus on God.

Jesus offers three paths that the Church has embraced as ways of going deeper into the spiritual life during this Lenten season: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. Archbishop Hicks looks at the reason why.

Cardinal Dolan reminds us of the traditions of Lent.

During this holy and penitential season, fasting is required of adult Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59.