MARQUETTE -- St. Peter Cathedral in Marquette was filled with parishioners Wednesday afternoon celebrating Ash Wesdnesday, a holy day of obligation.

It marks the beginning of Lent for the Christian community.

Monsignor Michael Stieber explains that Ash Wednesday symbolizes a person's mortality and also starts a period of repentance, renewal and sacrifice.

"To live more fully in Christ, that's my hope for all of us," says the Monsignor, "and that we'll respond to the Lord's initiative and cooperate with the Holy Spirit and let him draw us deeper in the life of holiness."

Services are being held at Catholic churches all over the Upper Peninsula Wednesday. St. Peter has a mass scheduled for 8 p.m.