By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
ROME — While Ash Wednesday Masses were canceled in several northern Italian dioceses to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, bishops composed special prayers for their people and offered alternative ways to begin the celebration of Lent.
Father Roberto Parisini, secretary general of the chancery of the Archdiocese of Bologna, issued a notice Feb. 25 telling pastors that although they should not celebrate public Masses, “nothing prohibits having a table in the church with blessed ashes and distributing them to individuals or small groups who request them.”
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna invited Catholics in the archdiocese to watch on television or by internet the prayer service he would celebrate “behind closed doors” at 9 p.m. Feb. 26, Ash Wednesday.
The text of the prayer service, posted online, began: “Lord Jesus, you promised always, until the end of the world, to be in our midst when we gather in your name. Even if today we cannot gather with our brothers and sisters for the celebration, we want to enter into the solemn Lenten season together with the whole church.”