(File Photo of the Diocese of Pittsburgh Logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Today is Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of the forty-day practice of Lent, that marks a time of spiritual growth for Catholics, with Diocese of Pittsburgh Bishop Mark Eckman emphasizing fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. The Lenten season is meant to resemble Jesus’ forty days of suffering in the desert before His public ministry began for Catholics to repent for their sins. There are also fish fries all around Pennsylvania today and the Fridays during Lent because Catholics do not eat meat today and on those Fridays during Lent and will normally eat fish instead. The abstinence from eating meat on those days is to not offend Jesus’ death on the cross.