The penitential season of Lent is the period of forty weekdays beginning on Ash Wednesday. Are you ready? Here is a brief explanation of what Lent is, and some links that I think will help you prepare and live the season of Lent. As I find new links, I will update them here.
What is Lent?
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.
Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the Spring Equinox. Thus it is a movable feast. Ash Wednesday moves around accordingly to be 40 days before Easter.
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 represent 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. In Latin (still the official language of the Catholic Church) the entire season is known as Quadragesima, 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 through 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.
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.
John at Flickr, licensed creative commons
Preparing for Lent
Septuagesima and Shrove Tuesday
Quinquagesima by Amy Welborn 
Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras
What is Shrove Tuesday
Mardi Gras
Lenten Prayers
Creighton University
Lenten Reading
The Great L
And Jesus Wept
Can a Mother Observe Lent
Coffee and my Inner Jesuit
Evangelicals observing Lent
Holy Adventure
Intentional Lent
Lent Embertide
Loveliness of Lent
The Meat Police
St. Paul Bible Study
Mother Angelica
The Story of a Life
Karen Edmisten – Lent postings
The Power of the Cross
Lenten Reading List from the Anchoress 2014
Lenten Recipes
Hula Pizza
Fasting Bread for Lent
Tasty Tuna Casserole
What’s for Dinner!!
Tuna Subs
Egg and Spam casserole for St. Patrick’s Day
Lenten Resources
5-Minute Sacrifice
10 Commandments of Lent for Moms
19 Things to give up for Lent
39 Ways to Keep Lent Holy without Giving Up Sweets!
Daily Graces – Lenten Journey with Mary
Saving the Rest of Lent
Pick Me Ups for the Homeschooling Mom
40 Days, 40 Ideas for LentNew!
40 Ways to Improve your Lent
40 Ways to Get More out of Lent
40 Days of Loving your Husband New!
Dorothy Day and Fasting New!
Holy Heroes!
Setting the Tone for Lent
Observance of Lent
Lenten activities
Domestic-Church
EWTN Lent
Lent for Little Ones
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!
What to Give up For Lent according to your personality type! New!
Examination of Conscience
An Examination of Conscience for women
Examination of Conscience for 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
Catechist corner
Lenten Promise Cards
The Saints of Lent
St. Perpetua and St. Felicity
St. Polycarp
St. Patrick Cupcakes
St. Patrick – History
St. Patrick’s Day Craft from Karen’ts Adventures in Mommyland
St. Patrick’s Day – Cottage Blessings.
St. Patrick Day Crafts – Catholic Icing
St. Patrick’s Day Books and Crafts
Shower of Roses St. Patrick’s Day
Virtual St. Joseph Altar Blog: 1st Annual St. Joseph Altar Blog Fest
The history of the St. Joseph Altar
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
Lautare Sunday
Medeival Mother’s Day – 4th Sunday of Lent
The Triduum
Holy Thursday
Holy Thursday traditions and food
The Learning Experience of Holy Week
Holy Thursday- Fish Eaters
Holy Thursday – Catholic Online
Maudy Thursday
Catholic Culture
Walking Through Holy Week With JesusNew!
Easter
When is Easter
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