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Season of
Lent
"We
adore you, O Christ,
and we bless you,
because by your holy cross
you have redeemed the world.."
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Welcome
On this site you will find a variety of pages and features to help
you immerse yourself in the Season of Lent and prepare for the
celebration of Easter.
Site features
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Lenten disciplines include abstinence, fasting
LENTEN REGULATIONS
The season of Lent will begin Wednesday, February 22, 2012. During the
Lent season, the Church reminds us of some minimal requirements that are to be
observed:ABSTINENCE: All the faithful who have reached the age
of 14 years of age are required to abstain totally from meat on Ash Wednesday
and the Fridays of Lent.
FASTING: All the faithful between the ages of 18 and 59
inclusive are bound to fast on Ash
Wednesday and Good Friday. This
practice involves limiting oneself to a single full meal and avoiding food
between meals. Light sustenance may also be taken on two other occasions during
the day.
EASTER DUTY: After they have been initiated into the Most Holy
Eucharist, all the faithful are bound
by the obligation of receiving Holy
Communion at least once a year during the Easter season. This year the
period begins the First Sunday of Lent, February, 26 and extends to Trinity
Sunday, June 3.
RECONCILIATION:
After having reached the age of discretion,
members of the faithful are bound to confess once a year grave sins which have
not already been absolved.
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Ash Wednesday - FEBRUARY 22
There will be several opportunities to receive Ashes.
Mass will be
celebrated at 7:00 am, 8:30 am, and 7:30 pm.
A Prayer Service will be held at 3:00 pm. We extend an
invitation to all parishioners to join us as we begin our Lenten season.
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Stations of the Cross
The Stations of the Cross will be held Friday evenings at 7:30 pm in Church
during Lent.
The dates are as follow: February 24, March 2, 9, 16, 23.
The "Living Stations of the Cross" will be performed by Saint Pancras School
children on March 30.
Click here to pray the stations. |
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What is Lent?
Each year, the 40 days (excluding Sundays) leading up to the Triduum and the
Easter Season mark a solemn preparation for the glory of Christ's resurrection.
Learn more about Lent here, or read these passages from the Catechism of the
Catholic Church on the preparation for Easter:
The seasons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (Lent, and
each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of the
Church's penitential practice.36 These times are particularly appropriate for
spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies, pilgrimages as signs of penance,
voluntary self-denial such as fasting and almsgiving, and fraternal sharing
(charitable and missionary works). (#1438)
Jesus' temptation [in the desert] reveals the way in which the Son of God is
Messiah, contrary to the way Satan proposes to him and the way men wish to
attribute to him.244 This is why Christ vanquished the Tempter for us: "For we
have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one
who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sinning."245 By the
solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of
Jesus in the desert. (#540)
The Church, especially during Advent and Lent and above all at the Easter Vigil,
re-reads and re-lives the great events of salvation history in the "today" of
her liturgy. (#1095)
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Catechism Corner
What the Catechism says about Lent
The season of Lent is mentioned in the
Catechism of the Catholic Church in
various sections.
It is brought up in #540 in the section that explains Christ’s public ministry.
In #1095, Lent is discussed in regards to the way in which the Church,
especially in its liturgy, sees Christ prefigured in various ways in the Old
Testament.
Finally, in #1438, the penitential nature of Lent is discussed in the section on
the sacrament of reconciliation.
540 Jesus’ temptation reveals the way in which the Son of God is Messiah,
contrary to the way Satan proposes to him and the way men wish to attribute to
him (see Mt 16:21-23).
This is why Christ vanquished the Tempter for us: “For we have not a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect
has been tested as we are, yet without sinning” (Heb 4:15). By the solemn forty
days of Lent, the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the
desert.
1095 … the Church, especially during Advent and Lent and above all at the Easter
Vigil, re-reads and re-lives the great events of salvation history in the
‘today’ of her liturgy.
But this also demands that catechesis help the faithful to open themselves to
this spiritual understanding of the economy of salvation as the Church’s liturgy
reveals it and enables us to live it.
1438 The seasons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (Lent,
and each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of the
Church’s penitential practice.
These times are particularly appropriate for spiritual exercises, penitential
liturgies, pilgrimages as signs of penance, voluntary self-denial such as
fasting and almsgiving, and fraternal sharing (charitable and missionary works).
(To read the Catechism of the Catholic Church online, log on to
www.usccb.org/catechism/text.)
†
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External Resources
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Resources
from The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
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