Maria Leddy receives a sprinkling of ashes on her head from Father Chris Wadelton during the Ash Wednesday service at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church in Columbus, Ind., Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. Instead of smudging ashes on the parishioners' foreheads, the ashes were sprinkled on their heads due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Mike Wolanin | The Republic
The Ash Wednesday service at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church in Columbus, Indiana was slightly different this year. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the ashes were sprinkled on top of parishioners heads instead of smudged on their foreheads. Parishioners were free to then use the ashes to form the sign of the cross on their foreheads.
