During Lent, the Church calls us to prayer, almsgiving, and, perhaps most prominently, fasting. What does Lenten fasting and penance look like? Well, besides the lenient strictures of abstaining from meat on Fridays and eating a little less on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, the Church leaves our penitential practices Read more…
I’ve heard many times that since Sundays commemorate the Resurrection we pause Lent on Sunday and should celebrate a little Easter. I was even taught when I was young that you could have the thing you gave up for Lent on Sunday, breaking out candy bars to celebrate the day. Read more…
As we enter Holy Week today, my mind is drawn to the Shroud of Turin. I find the Shroud to be absolutely fascinating! It’s not that I’ve gone looking for anything I could get my hands on related to this great relic, but whenever I see something new about it, Read more…
A few years ago I read to my kids the first few volumes of the The Green Ember series, written by S.D. Smith, and immediately I was struck by one of its central themes: betrayal. It stood out pretty starkly for a kid’s book. The rabbit kingdom, Natalia, collapsed and Read more…
Lenten penance pertains to more than simply fasting from food and drink. It also entails curtailing the “delight of the eye” and pleasing sounds, which gratify our senses. Mortification means dying to ourselves and devoting more time to prayer and penance. This effort could be undone by continued immersion in Read more…
Lent originated from the intense preparation of catechumens on the days preceding the Easter Vigil, as they prepared to receive Baptism: They who are to be baptized shall fast on Friday, and on Saturday the bishop shall assemble them and command them to kneel in prayer. And laying his hand upon Read more…
Good Friday, a day of devotions such as the veneration of the Cross and the Stations, is also a day for extended silent meditation. I offer two poems for reflection, one tied to devotion to the Cross, and the other more personal in nature. We know St. Thomas Aquinas’ version Read more…
“Do this in memory of me.” Jesus’ command at the Last Supper forms the basis of the Church’s liturgy, not simply remembrance of Jesus but a mystical union with the actions of Christ through word, ritual, and the movements of all the faithful. There is a drama latent within the Read more…
As Catholics throughout the world face closed doors at church, our Lenten fast has changed. We think of Lent as a time of giving up bad things and engaging in deeper prayer. Abstaining from attending Mass would not seem to fit this bill, but it actually has a deep history Read more…
Medieval Lent was, to say the least, a lot harder. The season’s origins come from the early catechumenate, which led converts through a multi-day period of intense prayer and fasting before their initiation at the Easter vigil. Eventually, this time extended to forty days, in imitation of Christ’s fasting in Read more…