ROME (AP) — Pope Francis increased his physical therapy with his condition remaining stable on Wednesday, marking the start of Lent by receiving ashes on his forehead and calling the parish priest in Gaza, the Vatican said.

At Ash Wednesday services there was special consideration for the leader of the church, Pope Francis, as he remains hospitalized.

Francis, 88, was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on February 14 with a severe respiratory infection that developed into double pneumonia.