YOUNGSTOWN - Catholics across the Valley gathered for traditional church services Wednesday to receive ashes on their foreheads to mark the start of the lenten season. Many gathered in the pews of St. Columba Cathedral in Youngstown as it held its annual service on Wednesday. 

Lent is a 40-day period leading up to Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter. Church leaders say the day invites Christians to reflect and renew their focus on their faith. 

The physical marking of ashes takes its roots back to the Old Testament where it symbolized "repentance for sins, and a sign of one’s humility before God," according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. In many churches, the ashes are made by burning the palm fronds from the prior year's Palm Sunday.

This year Easter will fall on Sunday April 5th, bookending the lenten season. 

Wednesday also marked Pope Leo's first Ash Wednesday as head of the Catholic church.