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Preparation for Lenten Preparation
In the older, traditional Roman calendar, we have pre-Lenten Sundays: Septuagesima Sunday, etc.
These Sundays help us get ou minds around the fact that Lent, which was once a much deeper time of discipline in the universal Church, we around the corner.
Are you thinking about Lent? It comes early this year. As a matter of fact it comes at the earliest possible date this year.
What will you be doing?
Given some time, you could make a good and prudent plan now.
What about your family and your parish?
Any plans?
Father,
Comment by danphunter1 — 10 January 2008 @ 12:10 pmWhat is the Church’s practical and spiritual reasoning for making the Lenten disciplines less than they had been before Vatican II.
What are the new spiritual advances that have been made, in this area in the last 40 years?
Just curious.
As far as my personal penance:
Confession every week,
No meat on Wednesdays,as well as the usual Friday abstinence,
Only two full meals per day.
At least one weekday Mass assitance other than the obligation.
Terce and None offered for priests and vocations.
God bless you.
My wife and I abstain from meat for all of Lent.
Comment by Pleased as Punch — 10 January 2008 @ 1:39 pmWe have done this for the past two years, and there
is a wonderful “liberation” in it, for lack of a
better word.
danphunter1 wrote: “Terce and None offered for priests and vocations.”
Maybe we priests should pray for good, holy, enthusiastic family life!
Thank you and God bless you and your family, danphunter1!
Comment by Fr Renzo di Lorenzo — 10 January 2008 @ 1:55 pmDoes anyone think that the ubiquitous question, “What are YOU giving up for Lent?” began as a result of the traditional, more rigorous Lenten experience being removed in favor of merely abstaining from meat on the Fridays (of Lent)? It seems that when the entire (Latin) Church was fasting every day in Lent in addition to abstaining from meat on Fridays there was no “need” to give up something additional, though I’m sure people did, of course. Just a thought. Thinking along the lines of St. Francis de Sales, it seems that it more mortifying to obey the Church’s discipline than our own. Since the Church no longer requires any mortification of its members, it seems that we are left to our own pride.
Comment by sacradoctrina — 10 January 2008 @ 2:09 pmFasting and abstinence from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday morning. No meat, eat less, eat plainer. Did it first time last year and couldn’t help smiling at all the beautiful roast beef falling off the bone that seemed to present itself wherever I went. That made it even better.
Comment by Sean — 10 January 2008 @ 3:37 pmFather,
Comment by Fr. — 10 January 2008 @ 4:10 pmI believe the earliest possible date for Easter is March 22. The last time that occured was in 1818 will not happen again until 2285 at which time I will be 336 years old.
When I was reading the children’s lesson plans from Seton Home Studey School I was moved to attempt saying the Stations of the Cross every day during Lent.
Since we don’t really belong to one parish, just hopping from one TLM to another as they become available in the diocese AND we have 5 small children we are going to do this at home. I cut out pictures of each station from last year’s SSPX calendar and they are already in our prayer binder in front of our home altar. I do hope our prayers will be acceptable and pleasing to God.
Comment by kat — 10 January 2008 @ 4:10 pmWhen I was reading the children’s lesson plans from Seton Home Study School I was moved to attempt saying the Stations of the Cross every day during Lent.
Since we don’t really belong to one parish, just hopping from one TLM to another as they become available in the diocese AND we have 5 small children we are going to do this at home. I cut out pictures of each station from last year’s SSPX calendar and they are already in our prayer binder in front of our home altar. I do hope our prayers will be acceptable and pleasing to God.
Comment by kat — 10 January 2008 @ 4:12 pmThis is “Fr.” who just commented on the earliest date of Easter. I meant to sign off as “Fr. N” as if that made any difference. So, Fr. Z all the best to you and God bless all your efforts here.
Comment by Fr. N — 10 January 2008 @ 4:15 pmGo on confession,
Comment by SMJ — 10 January 2008 @ 4:15 pmnot eat chocolate (I’m a chocoholic),
not eat meat on Wednesdays and Fridays,
pray the Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart every day,
pray for the Pope every day,
and pray for the conversion of the heretics and for the conversion of the
infidels every day.
Saying the seven penitnetial psalms daily, with the litany on sundays/solemnities.
Comment by Josiah — 10 January 2008 @ 4:55 pmMy parish has stations and benediction every Friday of lent, and I’ll be there.
Giving up sweets.
committing to saying the daily office.
Father Z:
Comment by Thomas Morrison — 10 January 2008 @ 5:24 pmStations of the Cross at my parish on Friday, daily Mass three times a week, the Angelus daily, abstain from large meals on Wednesdays, increase amount of time spent reading spiritually edifying books. I will also continue my tradition of taking Good Friday off from work and watching “The Passion of the Christ” that evening.
Father,
Comment by Father M — 10 January 2008 @ 6:49 pmThank you for another excellent thread. It’s marvelous to hear of devotion to devotions, of a willingness to take on and grow spiritually through mortification. By the way, in my last two parishes, we have revived the custom of “burying the alleluia,” which we did on the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday. Within the ordinary form of the Mass, this was done by a simple declaration that the Alleluia was to be silenced until the day of the Lord’s rising. An “alleluia banner” was then taken from the ambo and put into a small casket, removed in procession, and “buried” in an opening in the basement floor. We did nothing at the indult Masses where I was helping out. But now that we have Summorum Pontificum and a weekly Sunday Mass in the EF, I will be investigating to see how we might do this. It can be a powerful visual signal of the coming of the great penitential season and it seems well rooted in the tradition of at least a few countries. If anyone has seen this done in the context of the older Mass, in a way that avoids the maudlin and has its own gravitas, please let me know. Thank you.
Father M, The burial of the Alleluia was described in one of Maria Von Trapp’s Books, Around the Year with the Trapp Family – Maria Augusta Trapp. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1952 New York, Pantheon 1955. The date was right around the time of the restoration of Holy week by Pius XII so it would work in nicely with the TLM. A blessed penetential season to you…
Comment by Pistor — 10 January 2008 @ 9:44 pmWhen I was a teenager (1990s), I began saying the Liturgy of the Hours (Lauds, Vespers, and Compline) during Lent and Advent. In 2005 I decided to purchase the Lent/Easter volume of the 4-volume series to include the Office of Readings as well. I fell in love with the Divine Office and I have been saying the full Office daily ever since. I am struggling to think of something to “add”. I am thinking of adding daily Mass. After just reading it here, I am thinking of making Wednesdays a no-meat day… which is hard for me because I love meat! :-)
Comment by Geoffrey — 11 January 2008 @ 12:15 amWe (my husband and I) normally do what we’re told was traditional prior to Vatican II —fasting (with one full meal and up to two small collations) and partial abstinence, and of course full abstinence on Fridays. Collations can be varied depending on one’s needs—I normally just do one very small one, because otherwise this wouldn’t be much less food than I eat anyway. My husband, being larger and having a more active life, normally has both collations. But we like doing it this way because there’s not much danger to pride. Anytime I start feeling too proud of myself, I just think, “Yeah, you’re pretty special. Catholics everywhere did this routinely for centuries, you know.”
Once, some years back, I also did a full 24-hour water-only fast three days a week all through Lent. I liked it a lot in the beginning (on fast days I would spend mealtimes praying instead of eating), but it got to be too much of a “thing” by the end, because I was losing quite a bit of weight, and some of my friends were rather concerned (I wasn’t overweight to begin with, and I think they feared I was sick or had an eating disorder.) That’s another good thing about the more traditional fast—if scores of Catholics have done it, it can’t be seriously harmful! We still do a 2-day water-only fast, starting after dinner on Maundy Thursday and ending after the Easter Vigil. Every year, though, I vacillate about continuing this little custom. I think it adds something to the Triduum as a whole, but by the Vigil I feel so weak that it takes some effort just to keep standing through the long readings. Last year our Vigil went nearly three hours, and I found myself thinking that I might appreciate it more if I weren’t fainting from hunger.
It’s always hard trying to fast in a way that’s big enough to matter, but small enough not to interfere with your other responsibilities.
Comment by Clara — 11 January 2008 @ 1:52 amA great inspiration to me, these entries… As we come to know our weakness better, we can all the more be able to turn, in the midst of that, to our Lord as Redeemer, Savior and… Friend (as He Himself called us). Mortification is always a matter of love, or it isn’t mortification.
Having said all that, I suppose that I should stop standing up with an ale and saying, “The Professor!” ... it being now more than a week after the birthday of Tolkien!
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2008/01/tolkiens-birthday-raise-a-glass/
Yet, since special friends are visiting this evening, the glasses will be raised again. Cheers!
Comment by Fr Renzo di Lorenzo — 11 January 2008 @ 4:38 amThese responses give me great ideas. :)
I’ll be giving up video games (not sure if I can convince my husband to join me on that one…), as well as sweets.
But family traditions I’d like to start in my new family (We just recently both became Catholic):
Comment by Jenny Z — 11 January 2008 @ 7:33 amGoing to mass every Friday evening, with Stations of the Cross after
Saying a prayer for the Pope every day
Confession, of course
And we may pick up a few more things from the responses here. :)
Here are some general ideas for your consideration:
– no tv, radio, movies, blogs!, unneccesary internet use, restaurants, unneccesary purchases
– no coffee, alcohol, smokes, sweets, meat or dairy (or food group you most abuse), various fasting and abstince
+ confession once a week, daily mass, stations, rosary, spiritual reading especially of Lenten content, listen or watch Catholic videos or mp3s (so many free ones online!), attend events at Catholic Churches (speakers, retreats, classes)
Comment by suggestor — 11 January 2008 @ 7:35 amThankfully, no matter how early, Lent never begins before Candlemas Day (2 February), so at least we still get to celebrate Mardi Gras. I always put in a request for annual leave on that Tuesday afternoon, and the following Wednesday morning. I tell them it’s for “pre-Lenten religious observances.” FWIW, I checked the calendar for the date of Easter, which in the West is the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. As I recall, the equinox is Holy Thursday, the full moon is Good Friday. You can’t play it much closer than that.
Comment by David L Alexander — 11 January 2008 @ 9:44 amAll I hope for this Lent is to return to the Faith and be able to receive the Sacraments. Please pray for me.
Comment by L. — 11 January 2008 @ 10:05 amL,
You certainly have my prayers…along with a request for yours. God rejoices at those seeking to return, and attends closely to them. Your own prayers are brought close to the ear of God by your guardian angel, who must be dancing with delight at your hope to return to the practice of the faith.
I hope – and need – to make a retreat this Lent – some time away to simply focus on my own relationship with God and clear out the accrued cobwebs. and listen.
Comment by Tim Ferguson — 11 January 2008 @ 10:17 amTHE key to a return to the faith is always the Sacrament of Mercy, of Reconciliation, of Penance. Zero reason to be afraid. Our Lord loves us SO much. Everything falls into the right perspective after this. We thank the Lord. More angels rejoice! As far as priests go—and they should be going to Confession too—find the one who is a lion in the pulpit, but a lamb in the confessional. BTW, who said that? You’ve got my prayers, too, L. But… Don’t wait for Lent. Our Lord wants you in His good friendship even right now… even right now!
Comment by Fr Renzo di Lorenzo — 11 January 2008 @ 10:55 amOne thing I also do is take down my copy of the diary of Saint Faustina Kowalska, “the Apostle of Divine Mercy”. It makes excellent Lenten reading, and prepares you better for the Feast of Divine Mercy on “Low” Sunday. A great book by an amazing mystic. Very inspirational!
Comment by Geoffrey — 11 January 2008 @ 11:11 amIt’s always hard trying to fast in a way that’s big enough to matter, but small enough not to interfere with your other responsibilities.
Comment by Clara
One of the best pieces of advice wa