NEW ORLEANS — Mardi Gras may be over, but Lent is just beginning.
From the start of Lent, Easter will arrive after 40 days and 40 nights.
Today is Ash Wednesday, and just like everything else during the pandemic, getting anointed will be a little different this year.
WGNO met up with three local churches, doing what they can to make not just sacred, but safe.
In Slidell, Christ Episcopal Church is offering “Lent in a Bag.”
The bag includes a cross, some ashes, and other items to use for reflection during Lent.
The church will be holding services at noon and 7 p.m. on Ash Wednesday.
Another way to celebrate Ash Wednesday, Ashes-to-Go.
Munholland United Methodist Church, in Metairie, is holding a drive-thru even until 1 p.m. on Ash Wednesday.
A Sanctuary Service will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday evening.
WGNO’s Bill Wood met with Father Doug Busch and Father Mark Lomax at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church where Ash Wednesday has never looked like this.
The priests counted out 3,000 Q tips, and will be using them to apply ashes, in the shape of the cross.
The ashes will arrive at four masses on Ash Wednesday.