THE LENTEN SEASON – INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS LENT?

In the Christian Church, Lent is the period preceding Easter, which is devoted to fasting, abstinence, and penitence in commemoration of Christ’s fasting in the wilderness. In the Western Church it runs from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday, and so includes forty weekdays. Lent is described as lasting for a total duration of 40 days, the number of days Jesus, as well as Moses and Elijah, went without food, in their respective fasts. It is a season of fasting, abstinence and penance, when Christians reflect on the suffering and death of Jesus, and it extends upto Easter, the day of the Lord’s Resurrection.

Generally observed practices during the Lenten season is that on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all Fridays of Lent everyone of age 14 and up must abstain from consuming meat. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, everyone of age 18 to 59 must fast, unless exempt due to usually a medical reason.

Is Lent in the Bible?’ is a common question. There are so many Lent Bible verses, but interestingly, the Bible doesn’t record the disciples or the early church observing Lent. Lent is a more recent solemn Christian religious observance and tradition, of Jesus’ 40 days and 40 nights praying and fasting in the wilderness. Jesus’ 40 days in the desert is recorded in the Lent Bible verses in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, when during that period, he even endured the temptations placed in his way by Satan.

Lent also reveals the steadfast love and faithfulness of Mary, the mother of our Lord. What went through the mind and heart of our Blessed Mother as she stood faithfully by her Son in His last agony? As a loving mother, she would have pondered every moment of His precious life and every experience she had with Him. She would have pondered His conception, His birth, His presentation in the temple, His public ministry, His passion and death and so much more.

Through a Daily Lenten Devotional we are invited to prayerfully ponder the mind and heart of our Blessed Mother as she endured the great suffering inflicted upon her own dear Son. Mother Mary faced the Cross of her Son with perfect faith, love and devotion. Her fidelity to her Son throughout His life was unwavering. As she stood before the Cross during those long three hours, that fidelity never ceased.

To our Blessed Mother who stood at the foot of the Cross of our crucified Lord. Her love and devotion toward her Son is an icon of perfect love, a window into the greatest of virtues and an invitation to holiness. Our Blessed Mother invites us to share in her motherly gaze upon her Son. She also invites us to allow her to gaze upon the crosses of our own lives.

FOR THE LENTEN SEASON REMEMBER

This year’s LENTEN SEASON commences on Wednesday, February 14, 2024; which would be ASH WEDNESDAY.

THE SEASON of LENT:

??1. Predominant Liturgical Colour is VIOLET (Except on the 4th Sunday of LENT/LAETARE Sunday, which will be ROSE)

??2. “GLORY to God in the HIGHEST” is omitted in Holy Masses of the Season.

??3. ‘ALLELUIA’ is omitted in all Masses and in the Divine Office.

??4. Breviary will be VOLUME II of the three volumes.

??5. The ‘TE DEUM’ is not said in the Office of the Season.

NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

?? ASH WEDNESDAY is a day of ABSTINENCE from MEAT or a favourite dish or drink or smoking. It is NOT a day for CELEBRATIONS but it is a day of PENANCE (cf. Can. 1251).

?? ASH WEDNESDAY is NOT a Holy Day of Obligation. But make out time to go to the Church and be smeared with the ASH on your forehead and then feel free to go to school, work, business, etc. but in a spirit of PENANCE.

?? STATIONS OF THE CROSS would be observed on *FRIDAYS within the Lenten Season. Kindly enquire about the time your parish begins it.

?? Generally, Lent is a Season of PRAYER, FASTING and ALMSGIVING.

WISH you a GRACE-FILLED LENTEN SEASON!

PRAYER

Dear Lord Jesus Christ, yours was the ultimate sacrifice, when you willingly, in total submission and obedience to your Heavenly Father, gave up your human life for the sake of our sins, trading your life for brutal death by crucifixion on the Cross, as penalty for the forgiveness of our sins, and as a gift of eternal salvation to the whole of mankind.

Dearest Mother Mary, we thank you for your tender care, for your acceptance of all the sufferings a mother can go through, to watch her only Son die, inorder to save us all. He defeated death when he rose again, to give us the abundance of eternal life. Teach us to imitate the love in your heart which was poured out upon your Son on Calvary.

Help us contemplate, over these 40 days of Lent, when Jesus retired to the wilderness, to pray and to fast, before facing death on the Cross of our sins, the magnitude of his selfless sacrifice of his human life, so that we may enjoy eternal life. May we live Christ-like lives, to merit the gains he has obtained for us, by sanctifying our souls and spreading the love and truth of his Divine Mercy to all.