Photo description:

BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS An Ash Wednesday service is hosted by St. Boniface Cathedral in Winnipeg, Man., Wednesday, March 5, 2025. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent which is a 40-day period of spiritual preparation leading up to Easter. Jules Chartier, 72, (right) who is a sacristain in the parish of St. Boniface, is pictured after Frère Germain Kpakafi marked an ash cross his forehead.