POPE JOHN PAUL TO PRESIDE ASH WEDNESDAY LITURGY

VATICAN CITY, FEB 23, 2001 (VIS) - On the afternoon of February 28, Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent, Pope John Paul will process from the church of San Anselmo to the basilica of Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill, thus renewing a centuries-old Roman tradition of celebrating Mass at designated station or stational churches during Lent.

At 5 p.m. in San Anselmo, there will be a moment of prayer, followed by a penitential procession to the basilica of Santa Sabina. Joining the Pope in the procession will be cardinals, archbishops, bishops, the Benedictine monks of San Anselmo, the Dominican Fathers of Santa Sabina and the lay faithful.

In Santa Sabina, the Holy Father will preside at the liturgy of the Word and, after his homily, there will be the rite of the blessing and imposition of ashes. Cardinal Josef Tomko, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, will preside at the Eucharistic liturgy. In conclusion the Pope will impart his apostolic blessing.

The practice of station churches had its origins in the first centuries of Christianity when most of the early Popes celebrated the liturgy on special days at special churches. This eventually became a predominantly Lenten devotion. In his liturgical reforms, Pope St. Gregory the Great (590-604), established a stational church for each day of Lent, thus making the whole season a pilgrimage on the path to conversion in preparation for Easter.

In early times, the celebrations began with clergy and the congregation gathering at one spot ("collecta") and processing to the station church ("statio"), while reciting litanies and other prayers. The Eucharist was then celebrated at the station church.

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