Christians begin the season of Lent with a symbol of faith on Ash Wednesday
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- Millions of Christians were marked on the forehead with the sign of the cross on Ash Wednesday.
CBS New York has more more on the symbolism behind this important day on the Christian calendar.
At Ash Wednesday Mass at Iona University in New Rochelle, hundreds of students received a symbol of the faith as the season of Lent begins -- a cross of ashes on the forehead, marking them as followers of Jesus Christ.
"I'm telling the world very simply, I'm a sinner, I'm not perfect. Part of healing and growing with the Lord is accepting the fact that we aren't perfect," student Fernando Perez said.
"They represent our mortality. One of the forms we use is 'Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return,' but it's also a sign of penance," said Father Gerard Mulvey, Iona's chaplain.
"I think that it's a marker of my way of practicing my faith," student Cara Donnelly added.
Donnelly will follow tradition and give up something dear to her during Lent -- she won't be checking a favorite social media site as part of a 40-day sacrifice mirroring Jesus' time fasting in the desert.
"If he can do that, I can give up something for him and his love," Donnelly said.
"It gives you that ability to take that out of your life and still be okay and understand that sometimes we don't need all these things in our life to really be happy," Perez added.
Ash Wednesday marks the start of the most solemn season of the year for Christians.
The season of Lent ends on Holy Thursday, three days before Easter Sunday.
