An Opportunity for Conversion and Renewal among Vallarta Residents.
On February 14th, 2024, besides being Valentine's Day, the Catholic Lent begins, a day when Catholic believers attend churches to receive a cross of ashes on their foreheads. With a peculiar meaning stemming from the Jewish tradition, where they covered themselves completely in ashes as a sacrifice, thus demonstrating penance and repentance on various occasions. For the Catholic Church, the ash cross on the forehead is a custom that reminds of mortality and the eventual return of the body to dust. According to INEGI, 89.2% of the population in Jalisco is Catholic, indicating that the vast majority have the obligation to attend the nearest temple and receive the significant symbol of the cross on their foreheads.
For Vallarta residents, it is crucial to be well acquainted with the Catholic calendar because historically, national holidays such as Easter vacation are based on the Catholic calendar, and this planning has helped Vallarta residents organize their finances and plan for the Easter offers.
With Ash Wednesday, the 40-day period known as Lent begins, ending with Easter Sunday, which this year, 2024, will be from March 24th to March 31st. Lent is an opportunity for "Conversion and Inner Renewal" for Vallarta residents. These words were written by Pope Francis himself from his X account.
Catholic temples in Puerto Vallarta were adorned with solemnity and welcomed the thousands of Vallarta residents who eagerly came to receive ashes on their foreheads, recalling the biblical phrase "Dust you are, and to dust you shall return," written in Genesis 3:19. Vallarta residents prepare for their customs of cooking with fish, eliminating red meat from their diets, and making preparations to receive thousands of tourists who will visit the beaches of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico.