Ash Wednesday/Mercoledi delle Ceneri

For Ash Wednesday this evening, I went to our little Catholic parish here, called Caravita. It was an ecumenical service: an Anglican archbishop presided, a Methodist bishop read the gospel, and a young Finnish Lutheran priest gave the homily. Among other intentions, we prayed for victims of sexism, racial and ethnic discrimination, and homophobia. On top of that, I'm an acolyte now, so I held the prayer book for the archbishop when he spoke. How amazed my Irish great-grandmothers would be!

It didn't seem right to ask for a selfie with the group in the sacristy (maybe I'm too shy). But, on my walk home, I took this shot of the Pantheon from the little cafe where I stopped for dinner and a glass of wine.