The Mystery of Lent

"The Mystery of Lent" 

from Dom Gueranger's "The Liturgical Year"

"We may be sure that a season so sacred as this of Lent is rich in mysteries. The Church has made it a time of recollection and penance, in preparation for the greatest of all her feasts; she would, therefore, bring into it everything that could excite the faith of her children, and encourage them to go through the arduous work of atonement for their sins. During Septuagesima, we had the number "seventy", which reminds us of those seventy years of captivity in Babylon, after which God's chosen people, being purified from idolatry, was to return to Jerusalem and celebrate the Pasch. It is the number "forty" that the Church now brings before us: a number, as St. Jerome observes, which denotes punishment and affliction.

Let us remember the forty days and forty nights of the deluge sent by God in His anger, when He repented that He had made man, and destroyed the whole human race with the exception of one family. Let us consider how the Hebrew people, in punishment for their ingratitude, wandered forty years in the desert, before they were permitted to enter the promised land. Let us listen to our God commanding the Prophet Ezechiel to lie forty days on his right side, as a figure of the siege which was to bring destruction on Jerusalem." - continue reading at this link.

Ash Wednesday

Now is the time to begin preparing for the season of Lent. The focus of this Season is the Cross and penance as we imitate and enter into Christ's forty days of fasting, like Moses and Elijah before Him, and await the triumph of Easter. 

“The observance of Lent is the very badge of Christian warfare. By it we prove ourselves not to be enemies of Christ. By it we avert the scourges of divine justice. By it we gain strength against the princes of darkness, for it shields us with heavenly help. Should men grow remiss in their observance of Lent, it would be a detriment to God’s glory, a disgrace to the Catholic religion, and a danger to Christian souls. Neither can it be doubted that such negligence would become the source of misery to the world, of public calamity, and of private woe.”  
- Pope Benedict XIV
 

Preparing for Lent means that there will be a lot of questions needing to be answered...

What is Lent all about?

How do I explain Lent to friends and family? 

Why do we have ashes on our foreheads?

Why no meat on Friday's?

What is almsgiving?

Is giving up chocolate really enough?
 

Below you will find many resources to help you in better understanding and living out this beautiful penitential season of Lent. 
 

Catholic Answers Resources


Traditional Lenten Resources


USCCB Lenten Calendar


Catholic Culture Lenten Resources


 

Click here for a guide to the Stations of the Cross




 

The Crucifixion