Category Archives: Lent

At the Foot of the Cross with Mary and John

Posted on by April 6, 2012

At the foot of the cross with Mary and John to witness the words Jesus spoke from the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” “Woman, behold your son. Behold, your mother.” “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” “I thirst” “It is finished” “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” – Jesus of Nazareth This is the point in scripture that most moves me.  All of the Gospels are moving and rich with meaning, but this moment, when Christ … Continue reading →

Palm Sunday Homily: “Crucify Him!”

Posted on by April 3, 2012

Lent has always brought to mind truths I personally need to remember such as the reality that every sin committed is in effect my joining in with the crowds shouting of Christ, “Crucify Him!” Rarely do I see our participation in the crucifixion discussed outside of Lent.  Scripture tells us that Jesus said, “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do unto ME.”   This is a good starting point for coming to recognize in what ways we say our own, “Crucify Him!” The least of these, an example. LIFE ISSUES The person who ignores Church teaching on artificial … Continue reading →

Facing Myself

Posted on by March 23, 2012

“You go on being worldly, frivolous and giddy because you are a coward. What is it, if not cowardice, to refuse to face yourself?”                               (St Josemaria Escriva, The Way #18) Oh the busyness of modern life.  We MUST answer that phone; we MUST return that text; we MUST see that sitcom or ballgame.  There is so much that is not essential to life that we think essential and Lent is the perfect time to go about learning to avoid those non-essentials. St. Escriva calls the result of non-essential things and activities, “worldly, frivolous and giddy” and states emphatically that the … Continue reading →

Update: Lenten Devotionals

Posted on by March 8, 2012

I’m having some minor success this year in keeping my Lenten plans.  This year I decided to keep picking up and continuing even if I fell down and missed a day or so on the planned prayers.  After all, Jesus fell when carrying His cross and got up again to carry it further. I wanted to think on His example of perseverance and apply it to my Lent this year. I decided not to expect to succeed by my own efforts but to trust God to decide if I would be perfect or struggle.  I left it in His hands … Continue reading →

Back to Lent and Planning Baptisms

Posted on by February 27, 2012

I’ve been unwell and this has messed with my goal of perfect attendance on my prayers for this season.  I’m catching up now that I feel a bit better, and accepting that being miserably ill is a good penance for me.  We should give thanks in all things and so being miserably ill is a good time to practice being thankful even in the midst of being miserable with a head-ache that just would not quit. Meanwhile, my older daughter is planning the baptism of her first child and our first grandchild and asked if I wanted to have her … Continue reading →

Penitential Practices Proper to Lent

Posted on by February 22, 2012

Lent is a part of our Liturgical year set aside for penance.  There is a lot out there about the Rules for Lent  and Archbishop Chaput did a video on practices proper to Lent. FASTING–giving up some good in order to gain spiritually Minimally: All persons 14 yrs of age or older are bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, all Fridays of Lent and Good Friday.   NOT by replacing it with Lobster or other treat.  Going meatless is supposed to be a penance. All persons age 18 or older but not yet 59 yrs old are bound to … Continue reading →

Spiritual Warfare, Lenten Preparation and Church Authority

Posted on by February 22, 2012

Here are some excellent blog posts to add to your reading for Lent.  They pertain to current events and may be useful as an aid to developing your own answers for the questions we Catholics get asked about Lent and what it means and the current political battles between the Culture of Life and the Culture of Death. Lent is 40 Days of Spiritual Battle. Fr. Z has a good post on spiritual warfare and prayers for Ash Wednesday. A Current Battle in our secular world is on who has the authority to determine religious practices; specifically, on those issues … Continue reading →

Lenten Preparations: Consecration to Our Lord Jesus: February 22-March 26

Posted on by February 22, 2012

Making or renewing the consecration of their heart to Our Lord Jesus through the heart of His Most Blessed Mother is a marvelous devotional to do this Lenten season.  We’re doing this in addition to the Novena for Religious Freedom and the book reading over at Suscipio.

We’ll be using the St. Louis-Marie De Montfort’s prayers and meditations from the book, The True Devotion To the Blessed Virgin published by Baronius Press Limited, 2008, ISBN # 978-1-905574-36-0. Amazon.com has a kindle version you can get instantly!

I found this clip of a Bob and Penny Lord program on St. Louis-Marie De Montfort on youtube:

EWTN has a nice page about St. Louis-Marie De Montfort.  This page includes links to documents on the writings of this Saint and an audio program.

See also this link:  Consecrate this Lent to Jesus through Mary, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.   This link has a marvelous wealth of information about why this particular period of time is so special.  ONLY time in our lifetimes when the dates for the Total Consecration fall within the period of Lent, starting on Ash Wednesday and making the consecration on the Feast of the Annunciation.

We will begin prayers on February 22, 2012 (Ash Wednesday) and end with the feast of the Annunciation (March 26, 2012) as the Day of Consecration.