Pope Benedict XVI marked the start of the Lenten season with an Ash Wednesday procession and a ceremony in which he urged the use of prayer to nourish hope.Aides held the ends of the pontiff's flowing purple robe as he walked in the procession from Rome's ancient Aventine Hill to the 5th-century Basilica of St. Sabina.
In the basilica, Benedict received ashes on his head and in turn placed them on the head of a cardinal and other prelates. The ashes symbolize mortality.
"Prayer nourishes hope, because nothing more than praying with faith expresses the reality of God in our life," Benedict told the faithful in the basilica. "Even in the solitude of the most difficult trials, nothing and no one can impede me from turning to the Father in the hidden part of my heart."
The Lenten season stresses prayer, fasting and sacrifice for the period leading to Easter, which this year will be celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church on March 23.
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