Posted on 02/08/2005 10:05:59 PM PST by Salvation
Let us reflect on his mercies, on this first day of the Lenten Season.
Recipes:
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February 09, 2005    Ash Wednesday
Abstinence from eating meat is to be observed on all Fridays during Lent. This applies to all persons 14 and older. The law of fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday applies to all persons 18 or older and younger than 59.
Ash Wednesday  At the beginning of Lent, on Ash Wednesday, ashes are blessed during Mass, after the homily. The blessed ashes are then "imposed" on the faithful as a sign of conversion, penance, fasting and human mortality. The ashes are blessed at least during the first Mass of the day, but they may also be imposed during all the Masses of the day, after the homily, and even outside the time of Mass to meet the needs of the faithful. Priests or deacons normally impart this sacramental, but instituted acolytes, other extraordinary ministers or designated lay people may be delegated to impart ashes, if the bishop judges that this is necessary. The ashes are made from the palms used at the previous Passion Sunday ceremonies. — Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year, Msgr. Peter J. Elliott The act of putting on ashes symbolizes fragility and mortality, and the need to be redeemed by the mercy of God. Far from being a merely external act, the Church has retained the use of ashes to symbolize that attitude of internal penance to which all the baptized are called during Lent. — Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy From the very early times the commemoration of the approach of Christ's passion and death was observed by a period of self-denial. St. Athanasius in the year 339 enjoined upon the people of Alexandria the 40 days' fast he saw practiced in Rome and elsewhere, "to the end that while all the world is fasting, we who are in Egypt should not become a laughing stock as the only people who do not fast but take our pleasure in those days." On Ash Wednesday in the early days, the Pope went barefoot to St. Sabina's in Rome "to begin with holy fasts the exercises of Christian warfare, that as we do battle with the spirits of evil, we may be protected by the help of self-denial." — Daily Missal of the Mystical Body Things to Do:
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| Thursday After Ash Wednesday |
| "Whoever wishes to be my follower must deny his very self, take up his cross each day, and follow in my steps." (Luke 9:23)
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Prayers offered up for Pope John Paul II, may his condition continue to improve so that he can return to his duties.
ping for your consideration.
Thank you ...
Good morning, Fritzy, and thank you!
Friday After Ash Wednesday
The Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence from meat.
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed. (Isaiah 58:6)
Reflection.
We must always remember what God tells us in Scripture: "Even if a mother could forget the child in her womb" - something impossible, but even if she could forget - "I will never forget you."
And so here I am talking with you. I want you to find the poor here, right in your own home first. And begin love there. Be that good news to your own people first. And find out about your next-door neighbors. Do you know who they are?
I had the most extraordinary experience of love of neighbor with a Hindu family. A gentleman came to our house and said: "Mother Teresa, there is a family who have not eaten for so long. Do something." So I took some rice and went there immediately. And I saw the children - their eyes shining with hunger. I don't know if you have ever seen hunger. But I have seen it very often. And the mother of the family took the rice I gave her and went out. When she came back, I asked her: "Where did you go? What did you do?" And she gave me a very simple answer: "They are hungry also." What struck me was that she knew - and who are they? A Muslim family - and she knew. I didn't bring any more rice that evening because I wanted them, Hindus and Muslims, to enjoy the joy of sharing. ..... Mother Teresa
Lenten Question
Q: What is a day of fast and abstinence?
A: Under current canon law in the Western Rite of the Church, a day of fast is one on which Catholics who are eighteen to sixty years old are required to keep a limited fast. In this country, one may eat a single, normal meal and have two snacks, so long as these snacks do not add up to a second meal. Children are not required to fast, but their parents must ensure they are properly educated in the spiritual practice of fasting. Those with medical conditions requiring a greater or more regular food intake can easily be dispensed from the requirement of fasting by their pastor. A day of abstinence is a day on which Catholics fourteen years or older are required to abstain from eating meat (under the current discipline in America, fish, eggs, milk products, and condiments or foods made using animal fat are permitted in the Western Rite of the Church, though not in the Eastern Rites.) Again, persons with special dietary needs can easily be dispensed by their pastor.
Lenten Action.
Schedule a fifteen minute period of silence today to listen to your heart and to the Lord speaking to you..
Prayer
Lord, with your loving care guide the penance we have begun. Help us to persevere with love and sincerity.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
| Friday After Ash Wednesday The Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence from meat. |
| This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed. (Isaiah 58:6)
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| Saturday After Ash Wednesday |
| If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness. (Isaiah 58:10)
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| First Sunday of Lent |
| "I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth." (Genesis 9:13)
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Mother or a child: From the words of St. Paul (2 Cor. 6:1-2).
Dearly beloved, we entreat you not to receive the grace of GodFather: This time of fasting has opened to us the gates of paradise. Let us accept it, praying and beseeching
in vain. For he says: In an acceptable time I have beard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Family: That on the day of resurrection we may be glorified in the Lord.
Father: Let us pray. Through the observance of Lent, O Lord, you purify your Church every year. See to it that your children lead a better life and so obtain the graces they are striving to acquire by doing penance. This we ask of you through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son.
Family: Amen. Favor this dwelling, Lord, with your presence. Far from it repulse all the wiles of Satan. Your holy angels — let them live here, to keep us in peace. And may your blessing remain always upon us. This we ask of you through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son.
Father: Let us bless the Lord.
Family: Thanks be to God.
Father: May the almighty and merciful Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, bless and keep us.
Family: Amen.
Prayer Source: Holy Lent by Eileen O'Callaghan, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1975
| Monday, First Week of Lent |
| "I assure you, as often as you did it for one of my least brothers, you did it for me." (Matthew 25:40)
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Lenten ping.
| Tuesday, First Week of Lent |
| "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. This is how you are to pray: ‘Our Father....’" (Matthew 6:8-9)
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Here's wishing all FReepers a blessed Lenten season.
Meaty stuff, there. Thanks for posting.
Here's wishing peace and blessings to all FReepers during this Lenten season.
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The Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy illustrate the ways to show charity toward others.
| Wednesday, First Week of Lent |
| "For at the preaching of Jonah they reformed, but you have a greater than Jonah here." (Luke 11:32) Reflection. "Go through the world unnoticed if you can. Secret privations, secret sacrifices of your own will, which will never be known until all things are revealed, are surer instruments of perfection than chains and shirts of hair." ...Fr. Lasance Lenten Fact The original period of Lent was 40 hours. It was spent fasting to commemorate the suffering of Christ and the 40 hours He spent in the tomb. In the early 3rd century, Lent was lengthened to 6 days. About 800 AD it was changed to 40 days. Lenten Action. Plant a seed or bulb and watch it develop through the spring. Pray for your own spiritual growth. Prayer O Jesus, humbled to abjection for me, teach me to humble myself for love of You. |
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Stational churches are the churches that are appointed for special morning and evening services during Lent, Easter and some other important days. The tradition started in order to strengthen the sense of community within the Church in Rome, as this system meant that the Holy Father would visit each part of the city and celebrate Mass with the congregation.