The scene is the Basilica of Saint Mark, in Milan, in 1874. 

Earnest preachers use their personalities to lead people to Jesus without obstructing him with themselves.

For all that it's witnessed over the centuries, the Aventine hadn't previously seen what's happened there on the past 25 years or so of Ash Wednesdays.

It is not necessary for a government to be thoroughgoingly despotic for us to live in a totalitarian condition in which we are afraid to say some things and — what is even worse — are required to say others.

Lent must be kept not only by avoiding bodily impunity but also by avoiding errors of thought and faith. 

A pamphlet at my local parish caught my eye recently. 

On this day, marked by the austere symbol of ashes, we enter the season of Lent, beginning a spiritual journey that prepares us for celebrating worthily the Easter Mysteries.

I used to dread Ash Wednesday because of the endless lines of people coming for ashes. 

At times, priests reveal intimate secrets about themselves from the pulpit. 

"Many a man will live and die upon a dogma: no man will be a martyr for a conclusion."