‘We recognize our sins so that we can be converted,’ Pope preaches at Ash Wednesday Mass
February 18, 2026
Pope Leo XIV celebrated the Mass of Ash Wednesday at the Basilica of Saint Sabina late this afternoon, following the customary penitential procession that began at the Church of Saint Anselm (booklet, video).
During Lent, God forms a people “that recognizes its sins,” Pope Leo preached. “We need to respond by courageously accepting responsibility for them. Moreover, we must accept that while this attitude is countercultural, it constitutes an authentic, honest and attractive option, especially in our times, when it is so easy to feel powerless in the face of a world that is in flames. Truly, the Church exists as a community of witnesses that recognize their sins.”
The Pontiff then preached about Lent’s “missionary significance”:
How rare it is to find adults who repent—individuals, businesses and institutions that admit they have done wrong! ... Indeed, it is no coincidence that, even in secularized contexts, many young people, more than in the past, are open to the invitation of Ash Wednesday. Young people especially understand clearly that it is possible to live a just lifestyle, and that there should be accountability for wrongdoings in the Church and in the world. We must therefore start where we can, with those who are around us.
“Now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!” (2 Cor 6:2). Let us therefore embrace the missionary significance of Lent, not in a way that distracts us from our individual efforts, but in a way that introduces this season to the many restless people of good will who are seeking authentic ways to renew their lives, within the context of the Kingdom of God and his justice ... Lent urges us towards a change of direction—conversion—that makes our proclamation more credible.
“We perceive in the ashes imposed on us the weight of a world that is ablaze, of entire cities destroyed by war,” Pope Leo continued. “This is also reflected in the ashes of international law and justice among peoples, the ashes of entire ecosystems and harmony among peoples, the ashes of critical thinking and ancient local wisdom, the ashes of that sense of the sacred that dwells in every creature.”
“We recognize our sins so that we can be converted; this is itself a sign and testimony of Resurrection,” the Pope added. “This will take place if we participate, through penance, in the passage from death to life, from powerlessness to the possibilities of God.”
The Pontiff concluded by reflecting on the tradition of the station churches:
The ancient Roman tradition of the Lenten stationes—which begins today with the first station—is instructive: it refers both to moving, as pilgrims, and to stopping, statio, at the “memories” of the Martyrs, on which stand the basilicas of Rome. Is this not perhaps an invitation to follow in the footsteps of the admirable witnesses to the faith, who can now be found throughout the world?
Let us remember the places, stories and names of those who have chosen the way of the Beatitudes and lived them out to the end. Their lives are countless seeds that, even when they seemed to be scattered, were buried in the earth and prepared the abundant harvest that we are called to gather.
Lent, as we have seen in the Gospel reading, frees us from wanting to be seen at all costs (cf. Mt 6:2, 5, 16), and teaches us instead to see what is being born, what is growing, and urges us to serve it. It is the profound harmony that is established with the God of life, our Father and the Father of all, in the secret of those who fast, pray and love. Let us redirect, with sobriety and joy, our entire lives and hearts towards God.
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