Believe it or not, Lent starts next Wednesday, February 10! It seems like only this week we were celebrating Candlemas and the presentation of the infant Jesus in the temple – well that’s because we were!! But the celebration of Easter is determined by the lunar calendar, and therefore so is the start of the Lenten season – which sometimes makes it very early and requires a big shift in mindset from the Christmas season we just finished, to the dark penitential season of Lent.
The penitential season of Lent is the period of forty week-days beginning on Ash Wednesday. It is a season of the Church year that commemorates the forty days Jesus fasted and prayed in the wilderness before He began His public ministry of preaching for repentance. Six Sundays are within the season; the last, Passion Sunday, marks the beginning of Holy Week. Holy Thursday begins the Triduum (three days) before Easter day, which includes Good Friday and Holy Saturday.
John at Flickr, licensed creative commons
The Church has devoted a period of time to prayer and fasting as a preparation for the liturgical commemoration of the Passion of Christ and the celebrations of the feast of the Resurrection, Easter Day, since very early times. In 604 Pope Gregory I defined Lent as “The spiritual tithing of the year”, a time of solemn spiritual and physical preparation for our own acceptance of salvation through Christ’s sacrifice. (Ordinary tithing meant to give a tenth part a tithe of one’s goods to God. Lent’s forty days represents about a tenth of the year.)
The word “Lent” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “lencten”, referring to the lengthening of days in the Spring. Lent, of course, is an English word. In Latin, still the official language of the the Catholic Church, the entire season is known as Quadrigesima, or “forty”.
The season of Lent calls Christians to imitate the forty days of prayer and fasting of Jesus. The period of forty days is significant. When God punished the sinfulness of mankind by the Flood, the rain lasted forty days and forty nights. Moses led the Hebrew people out of bondage in Egypt, but they wandered forty years in the desert before reaching the promised land. Elijah fasted and sought God’s will on Mount Horeb for forty days. Jonah prophesied the destruction of Nineveh in forty days.
The Code of Canon Law states that Fridays throughout the year and in the time of Lent are penitential days for the entire Church. Although fasting usually refers to any practice of restricting food, there is a distinction, in the Church, between fast (limiting food to one full meal a day, with two smaller meals allowed) and abstinence (abstaining from eating meat.) Abstinence from meat on Fridays as the universal form of penance on all Fridays is no longer mandatory. We may choose another way of observing the Church’s requirement for acts of penance on Fridays, but we are not to neglect it, either.
Both fast and abstinence are required on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. For the record, rules of the Church in the United States about fasting and abstinence in effect since 1966 state that:
“Catholics in the United States are obliged to abstain from the eating of meat on Ash Wednesday and on all Fridays during the season of Lent. They are also obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday. Self-imposed observance of fasting on all weekdays of Lent is strongly recommended. Abstinence from flesh meat on all Fridays of the year [excluding solemnities like Christmas which may fall on Friday] is especially recommended to individuals and to the Catholic community as a whole.” (ref. Canons 1249-1253, Code of Canon Law)
Fasting and abstinence, which foster self-discipline and self-denial and other beneficial spiritual exercises, are strongly encouraged as voluntary practices at any time of the year. But it will be the responsibility of families, as the “Domestic Church”, to foster this spiritually energizing practice, not only during the required Lenten days, but at other times as well. To fast willingly, in reparation for our own sins and for others, can transform not only our own lives, but the life and vitality of the larger community.
As Pope Leo I stressed in the 5th century, the purpose of fasting is to foster pure, holy, and spiritual activity. It is an act of solidarity that joins us to Christ an act of self-donation in imitation of His total self-sacrifice. Fasting can heighten our understanding of Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church, and of our total dependence on His love and mercy.
Below is a list of Lenten resources I have collected over the years and I add links to them when I find them. These are also linked in the Lent and Easter tab above.
Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras
What is Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday
Lenten Prayers
Creighton University New
Lenten Reading
40 Bags in 40 days New!
40 Days to a More Organized Home
The Great Lent
Lent
Lent for Children 2013 supplement:
And Jesus Wept
Happy Catholic Reading List
Falling in Love with Lent Again
The Meat Police
Coffee and my Inner Jesuit
Loveliness of Lent
St. Paul Bible Study
Evangelicals observing Lent
Mother Angelica
The Story of a Life
Can a Mother Observe Lent
The Domestic Monastery
These 40 days Lent
http://karenedmisten.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20Meaningful%20Lent
Intentional Lent New!
The Power of the Cross
Aggie Catholics FAQ Lent
Journey through Lent with Father Baron New
Lenten Reading List from the AnchoressNew
Lenten Recipes
Hula Pizza
Fasting Bread for Lent
Tasty Tuna Casserole from the Simple Dollar Blog
What’s for Dinner!!
Tuna Subs
Lenten food on a Budget
Egg and Spam casserole for St. Patrick’s Day
Lenten Resources
The Anchoress -Lots of Links
Saving the Rest of Lent
Pick Me Ups for the Homeschooling Mom
40 Ways to Improve your Lent
40 Ways to Get More out of Lent
Holy Heroes!
More resources for Kids
Catholic Fire 2012
What is Lent
Observance of Lent
Spring Cleaning
Lenten activities
Domestic-Church
EWTN Lent
Lent for Little Ones
Aggie Catholics Mega Links!
Loyola Press
66 Things to Give up for Lent
Liturgical Living at a Glance for Marc
Stations of the Cross Box for Kids
Don’t Waste your Lent! 7-Ways to Have a Good Lent New!
10 Commandments of Lent for Moms New!
What to Give up For Lent according to your personality type! New!
Examination of Conscience
Mother’s Examination of Conscience
Children’s Examination of Conscience
Examination of Conscience for School Children
Father Hardon Examination of Conscience
Father Alberione Examination of Conscience
Examination of conscience
A Holy Thursday Reflection for Mothers New
Lenten Arts and Crafts
https://www.mydomesticchurch.com/2009/03/some-of-our-favorite-things-to-do-for.html
https://www.mydomesticchurch.com/2008/02/grace-under-pressure.html
Crown of Thorns Recipe and crown of thorns here
http://ponderedinmyheart.typepad.com/pondered_in_my_heart/2007/02/merciful_cross.html
Good Deed Bracelet
The Last Supper
Catechist corner
Lenten Promise Cards
The Saints of Lent
St. Perpetua and St. Felicity
St. Polycarp
St. Patrick Cupcakes
St. Patrick – History
St. Patrick Doll
St. Patrick Film
St. Patrick’s Day Craft from Karen’ts Adventures in Mommyland
St. Patrick’s Day – Cottage Blessings.
St. Patrick’s Day Crafts
St. Patrick’s Day Books and Crafts
St. Patricks crafts and lessons
Loveliness of St. Patrick’s Day
Shower of Roses St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day Sacred Music
Unit Study- Saint Patrick Knowledge Quest
Virtual St. Joseph Altar Blog: 1st Annual St. Joseph Altar Blog Fest
The history of the St. Joseph Altar
Samples of St. Joseph Altars
The Virtual St. Joseph Altar
St. Joseph Altar
St. Joseph Novena for kids
Lent In My Domestic Church
https://www.mydomesticchurch.com/search/label/Lent
https://www.mydomesticchurch.com/2012/02/simple-woman_20.html
https://www.mydomesticchurch.com/2011/03/simple-woman_21.html
https://www.mydomesticchurch.com/2009/03/another-lenten-practice-for-domestic.html
https://www.mydomesticchurch.com/2009/03/simple-woman.html
https://www.mydomesticchurch.com/2009/02/simple-woman_23.html
https://www.mydomesticchurch.com/2007/02/lent-in-my-domestic-church.html
https://www.mydomesticchurch.com/2007/02/story-on-my-family-in-parish-paper.html
Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross
Way of the Cross for Holy Souls in Purgatory
Cukierski Family Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross Reflections
St.Francis Stations of the Cross
Lautare Sunday
Medieval Mothering Day
The Triduum
Holy Thursday
The Learning Experience of Holy Week
Holy Thursday- Fish Eaters
Holy Thursday – Catholic Online
Maudy Thursday
Catholic Culture
Easter
When is Easter
