The Lenten Season, forty-days on the liturgical calendar, is preceded by Mardi Gras or "Fat Tuesday," the day before Ash Wednesday which is the beginning of Lent. Fat Tuesday is where the faithful celebrate the day by eating, drinking and making merry before the "fasting," special prayers and abstinence from something we choose to give up for the Lenten season begins.

 

Ash Wednesday is a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics, calling them to Mass to receive blessed ashes on their foreheads as a sign of penance in preparation for Easter. The ashes used actually come from the burning of the palm branches from the previous year's Palm Sunday. One of two pronouncements are used by the priest when applying the ashes:

            Turn from sin and be faithful to the Gospel, or

            Remember man, you are dust and to dust you will return.

This acts as a reminder that we will all stand before God's judgment at our death.

 

Lent calls us all into reflection of our lives, how we are living them, are we offering charity to our brother, are we giving our lives more over to Christ and embracing a new life lived in Christ?

 

Lent calls us all to "fast." We limit the intake of food and drink for a religious purpose, seeing in this practice a way in which we express our desire to share in the suffering of Christ. Unless you have medical problems, fasting requires that a person eat only one main meal a day and two lesser meals. The mandatory fast days are Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, with all other Fridays being days of abstinence, no meat!

 

The Lenten Season also brings with it the devotional of Stations of the Cross, tracing Jesus' journey from the trial before Pilate to Calvary. This was first observed in Jerusalem and became widespread in the Middle Ages. It is composed of fourteen stations, which depict each part of Jesus' journey. Check your Church bulletin for day and time.

 

The Sunday before Easter Sunday is always celebrated as Palm Sund

ay or Passion Sunday and is the opener for Holy Week. The blessing of the palms takes place and the reading of the Passion of Christ by the priest and the faithful.

 

That is followed by the Triduum, the "three days" whereby the Church moves into solemn prayer beginning with the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Thursday, the institution of the Holy Eucharist; Good Friday, the death of Christ and Saturday as we wait in vigil for the triumphant resurrection from the dead of Our Lord and Savior Jesus.

 

Our Lenten journey is a deeply rooted and religious experience in our Catholic faith that calls us to draw near to the truth and love of the One Holy and Apostolic Church.

 

A great site for your Lenten Q & A's:

www.americancatholic.org

Groundhog Day has passed and Punxsutawney Phil has promised the Northeastern U.S. six more weeks of winter. Phil's accuracy rate has been a lack-luster 39%. But, did you know that there are other regional groundhogs that also make their appearances in their particular part of the country?

 

In Buffalo, New York, Dunkirk Dave emerged from his hole (rather than being scruffed by the neck like Phil) and didn't see his shadow, so Spring is on the way. Believe it or not, but Dave has a 90% accuracy rate!

 

So what is the prediction in your area of the country? Here is the lineup of regional predictions:

 

An Early Spring:

Queen Charlotte, Charlotte, NC

Woodstock Willie, Woodstock, IL

Gus, Athens, GA        

Dunkirk Dave, Dunkirk, NY

Octoraro Orphie, Quarryville, PA

Buckeye Chuck, Marion, OH

Sir Walter Wally, Raleigh, NC

Balzac Billie, Alzac, Alberta

Jimmy the Groundhog, Sun Prairie, WI

French Creek Freddie, French Creek, WV

Staten Island Chuck, Staten Island, NY

General Beauregard Lee, Snellville, GA

 

6 More Weeks of Winter:

Holtsville Hal, Holtsville, NY

Shubenacadie Sam, Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia

Malverne Mel, Malverne, NY

Chuckles, Manchester, CT

Wiarton Willie, Wiarton, Ontario

Woody, Howell, MI

Punxsutawney Phil, Punxsutawney, PA

Stormy Marmot, Aurora, CO

Spanish Joe, Spanish, Ontario