Find what you’re looking for
Lent is based on Christ’s 40-day fast in the desert, which recalls the 40 years that the Hebrew people wandered between leaving Egypt and entering the Promised Land.
As parents, we know that kids always ask, “Why?” about everything.
Years ago, as Lent approached, I asked a trusted spiritual counselor what he was going to give up. He gave me a sly grin and said, “I’m giving up giving things up for Lent.”
It was Louisiana Sweet Dough Pie, and it is served only once a year—on Good Friday.
Our understanding of penance is based on our understanding of sin.
How did this holiday of love and romance originate and, more importantly, how did St. Valentine become involved? The answers to those questions are not easy ones. Valentine’s Day is a holiday shrouded in mystery and legend.
Although the mid-February holiday celebrating love and lovers remains wildly popular, the confusion over its origins led the Catholic Church, in 1969, to drop Saint Valentine’s Day from the Roman calendar of official, worldwide Catholic feasts.
This Lent, allow prayer, fasting and works of compassion to challenge whatever is keeping you from God.
What do ashes, no meat on Fridays, 40 days and Mardi Gras have in common? They’re all symbols associated with the Church season known as Lent—the 40 days preceding the Holy Triduum: Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter.
The Church decided that Catholics could eat meat on Fridays outside Lent. As I remember, there was a slight catch: We were to give up something else.
28 W. Liberty Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
513-241-5615
info@franciscanmedia.org
Customer Service:
cservice@franciscanmedia.org
Technical Questions:
support@franciscanmedia.org
Writer’s Guidelines
Privacy Policy
Post a Prayer Request
Webmaster Login