Inland Empire residents celebrate Valentine's Day, Ash Wednesday

For the first time since 2018, Ash Wednesday falls on Valentine’s Day

It was a day of romance and weddings.

It was also a day of prayer and reflection.

For some, it was both. On Wednesday, Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday coincided for the first time since 2018. That meant the solemn day that begins Lent and leads to Easter fell on the same day that many were celebrating love.

Inland Empire residents marked both occasions.

In San Bernardino County, the county clerk’s office geared up for a flood of couples looking to tie the knot on Valentine’s Day.

“Our busiest day of the year for marriages is here once again,” San Bernardino County’s Assessor-recorder-county Clerk Chris Wilhite said in a news release.

The clerk’s office, which decorated lobbies and ceremony rooms for the occasion, issues marriage licenses and performs civil wedding ceremonies. Last year, it gave out more than 9,000 licenses and performed 4,500 ceremonies in San Bernardino and Hesperia throughout the year.

This year, the office had 72 Valentine’s Day wedding appointments for the main office in San Bernardino, 25 in Hesperia and one in Joshua Tree, county spokesperson Joani Finwall said in an email. And that tally didn’t include walk-ins.

In Riverside, Catholic students were among those receiving ceremonial ashes on their foreheads, in the shape of a cross.

St. Catherine of Alexandria Catholic Church was busy with Masses and distributing ashes. Across Brockton Avenue, Notre Dame High School students observed the day with a Mass and ashes inside the campus gym.

Ash Wednesday is followed by 40 days of Lent — not counting Sundays — which is a period of preparation to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Easter, which marks the day Christians believe the resurrection occurred, falls on March 31 this year.

WATCHARA PHOMICINDA — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Maria Torres, of Perris, receives ashes from Rev. Ephraim Arciga during an Ash Wednesday service at St. Catherine of Alexandria Catholic Church in Riverside on Wednesday.

WILL LESTER — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Stephanie Martinez and Jose Martinez kiss to make their marriage official on Valentine’s Day at the San Bernardino County Hall of Records on Wednesday.

WILL LESTER — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Marilee and Guy Mccurry show off their wedding rings moments after marrying on Valentine’s Day at the San Bernardino County Hall of Records.

WATCHARA PHOMICINDA — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Students kneel and pray during an Ash Wednesday service at Notre Dame High School in Riverside on Wednesday.