Pope Francis bowed his forehead to receive a dab of ashes, then smudged ashes in turn on the heads of other faithful during an Ash Wednesday service in an ancient Roman basilica.

May the odds be ever your favour.

Damien Enright recounts more tales from his travels in Ethiopia. 

WELL, Lent is almost over and if you are one of those virtuous souls who have been abstaining for the past seven weeks now is the time to feast and savour the rewards of your fasting. 

Mark Hayes continues his regular diary of a Corkman in LA with a survival guide to Lent and St Patrick’s Day in Hollywood – think Mardi Gras with green hats and leprechaun suits.

A priest blessed with a talent for communicating with the masses has seized on the 50 Shades of Grey fever sweeping the nation to spread the faith.

BETWEEN 1914 and 1915, the Jewish Czech writer, Franz Kafka, wrote the mesmerising novel, The Trial.

I have a friend who has mixed feelings about Easter. For Lent, he gives up sobriety.

Why are we so repulsed by the idea of eating horsemeat? It should not be feared, writes Jack Shafer

Sean O’Sullivan, Dragon’s Den

Katherine Leary thinks sex, like food, is better when it’s a gourmet meal than when it’s a burger at a fast food joint

AVRIL MULCAHY doesn’t sit back, especially when it comes to finding Mr Right.

HE spent Lent in the wilderness but former minister Willie O’Dea still cannot figure out what went wrong.

THOUSANDS of people are expected to go online to pray today — Ash Wednesday — as the computer gains in popularity as a virtual prayer book.

NINE brave Waterford businessmen have begun their very own Operation Transformation by throwing their weight behind a campaign to raise funds for cancer patients.

TONY QUINN, 20, of Seán Heuston Place, Limerick, says Lent means giving something up.

YOUNG people seem to be keen to go without treats for the 40 days of Lent but few will be going to Church as often as their parents used to years ago.

GREAT cities have a genius for throwing up characters and institutions, people and places that somehow manage to represent the quirks and foibles of the city.

Gaelic football All-Star Cormac McAnallen died of a viral infection of his heart, a secondary post mortem examination established today.

ACTRESS, comedian and writer, Pauline McLynn, seems to have boundless energy.