Area churches holding Ash Wednesday services

On Wednesday, churches throughout the region will distribute ashes to mark Ash Wednesday, which begins the Lenten season.Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting as well as the day Christians have the sign of the cross drawn on their foreheads with ashes.Members 18 years to 60 years old fast. Those partaking in fasting eat one regular-sized meal and two small meals a day as well as abstain from meat.The Mass schedule at Catholic churches in the area is as follows:St. Joseph, Union Street, Lynn: There will be 9 a.m. English Mass in the lower level. Mass in Spanish will be held at 5 p.m. at the upper level.Holy Family, Bessom Street, Lynn: Mass and distribution of ashes will be at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.St. Mary’s of Lynn: The church will observe Ash Wednesday at 12:05 p.m. There will be Mass during Lent held Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 12:05 p.m. and on Saturday at 9 a.m.Sacred Heart of Lynn: The church will observe Ash Wednesday at 8:15 a.m. and 7 p.m. at the lower church. It will have Mass during Lent on Monday, Tuesday and Friday at 8:15 a.m. and on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the upper church.St. Thomas Aquinas in Nahant: Ashes will be distributed Wednesday at 9 a.m.St. John the Evangelist, Humphrey Street, Swampscott, follows the same schedule as St. Thomas.St. Margaret, Lincoln Avenue, Saugus: There will be a 7 a.m. Mass with a distribution of ashes. And at 4 p.m., ashes will be distributed.Blessed Sacrament, Summer Street, Saugus: Ashes will be distributed at noon and at 7 p.m. with Mass.For the entire 40 days of Lent, there will be Mass Monday through Friday at 7 a.m. at the two Saugus churches. St. Margaret will hold Mass Monday through Wednesday while Blessed Sacrament will hold its Masses Thursday and Friday. Confessions will be Wednesdays from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. On Feb. 25 and March 4 and 11, the confessions will be held at Blessed Sacrament. Confessions at St. Margaret will be March 18 and 25. The extra services the churches are holding will end on Good Friday.St. Maria Goretti, Lynnfield: There will be a 7 a.m. distribution and a prayer service at 4 p.m.Our Lady of the Assumption, Lynnfield: There will be a 9 a.m. and a 7 p.m. service. Confessions will be every Wednesday from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.St. Pius V, Maple Street, Lynn: There will be a 7 a.m. Mass, a service of the word at 3 p.m. and another Mass at 7 p.m.Lent concludes at the Easter Triduum, which begins April 2 with Holy Thursday.