Posted on 02/06/2008 7:03:53 PM PST by Salvation
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hmm, by the time Good Friday rolls around, I’ll be 60. I think I’ll fast anyway. They keep making it easier. Actually, I’m on a Slim 4 Life diet so pretty much every day is a fast day. But, I do love Lent. It’s my favorite part of the liturgical year.
Lent -- 2008 -- Come and Pray Each Day
Lent: Why the Christian Must Deny Himself
Lenten Workshop [lots of ideas for all]
Forty Days (of Lent) [Devotional/Reflections]
Pope Benedict takes his own advice, plans to go on retreat for Lent
GUIDE FOR LENT - What the Catholic Church Says
Message of His Holiness Benedict XVI for Lent 2008
40 Days for Life: 2008 Campaigns [Lent Registration this week]
Vatican Web Site Focuses on Lent
Conversion Through Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving [Lent]
Lent: A Time for Prayer, Reflection and Giving
Denver Archbishop’s Lenten Message: “Restore us as a culture of Life”
Where does Ash Wednesday get its ashes?
Catholic Caucus: Daily Rosary Prayer for Lent
On the 40 Days of Lent General Audience of Pope Benedict XVI
Lenten Stations -- Stational Churches - visit each with us during Lent {Catholic Caucus}
Something New for Lent: Part I -- Holy Souls Saturdays
Reflections for Lent (February, March and April, 2007)
Lent 2007: The Love Letter Written by Pope Benedict
Pre-Lent through Easter Prayer and Reflections -- 2007
Stations of the Cross [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
For study and reflection during Lent - Mind, Heart, Soul [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
Ash Wednesday and the Lenten Fast-Family observance Lenten season [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
Pre-Lenten Days -- Family activities-Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras)[Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
40 Ways to Get the Most Out of Lent! [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
Lenten Fasting or Feasting? [Catholic Caucus]
THE TRUE NATURE OF FASTING (Catholic/Orthodox Caucus)
The Three Practices of Lent: Praying, Fasting. Almsgiving
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI FOR LENT 2006
Lent a Time for Renewal, Says Benedict XVI
Lent: A Time to Fast From Media and Criticism Says President of Pontifical Liturgical Institute
Excellent, and much appreciated as always.
So much to know....
Thank you.
Thanks for the tips. I’ve been searching for ways to get my teenage son more involved, these will definitely help.
mrs
For example, if you say a Pater + Ave while you wash your hands and a Gloria while you dry them, you have washed for the recommended amount of time AND (if you aim your prayers at "the poor souls in Purgatory") committed (heh heh) a spiritual work of mercy! Is that a deal or what?
But the connection with Lent is this. Fasting is good not only for the health and the clothing budget and all, but, at least in my case, when, as happened last night, the smell of pizza wafts through the air and my mouth begins to water (do you think I have enough commas in this sentence?), you can remember to say a Pater + Ave + Gloria or anything else you might want to say to God. And you can add a prayer for the hungry and for guidance about what YOU should DO about hunger in the world.
And if you are sitting around chewing on your injuries like a dog chewing on a bone and committing major sins of anger, you can calm yourself down by sending up a P + A + G and then follow them with a prayer for the person you're angry at AND an act of contrition for being so unwilling to rejoice in the Love God has for that person.
God is gracious and out of the sow's ear of our distracted prayers He makes a silk purse of holiness.
What good ideas!
I thought abstaining from meat on Fridays was cast aside during Vatican II. I was quite surprised to see it mentioned in Lenten context! However, since fish and chips meant Friday to me all during my yout, I am happy to return thereto.
My nutritionist (that I went to in a vain effort to stave off blood pressure medicine) recommends a diet similar to that which is called fasting, above. She would rather I eat a large breakfast than a large dinner. Does it matter? I am serious as I know most of the time the large meal is to be eaten at sundown.
There is no rule regarding what time one eats the full meal on a fast day. I usually eat mine at lunchtime, or I’m in hypoglycemic meltdown and have to go to bed by 4:00. If eating a full meal in the morning is what’s best for your health, there’s no religious reason to do something different.
As you point out, the present regulation for “fasting” isn’t far off from general healthy eating for many people. I don’t have any trouble with it, and I’m always either pregnant, nursing, or both.
So do you say,"No thanks, I'm fasting for three ..."
LOL! Right now we have two in our family who are “required” to abstain - my husband and the 16-year-old - and only my husband is “required” to fast.
However, the whole family abstains on Friday - like the little ones don’t want to eat cereal at every meal anyway! - and everyone over 10 observes the fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, while the younger children don’t get snacks or seconds.
Thanks, EyeGuy.
Glad to help. There is much information out there. These just happen to be FR links that got posted about Lent.
I haven’t ever heard that combination before. Good suggestion, sir!
I have taken to just taking to saying a Hail Mary for any person who might cross my path with whom I have might be having a difficult time, or while driving and being stopped by a train, I say a decade of the Rosary.
Another thing, whenever I hear a siren, I completely stop what I am doing, even if it is a conversation, and say a silent Hail Mary for the people the siren is going to.
Actually abstaining from meat on Firdays in commeration of Christ’s death and sacrifice on the Cross for us, was never obliterated by Vatican II. It has always been there.
It was the American Bishops who were waylayed into thinking that the easy road was the best road. We can pray for them that they will keep coming to their senses. As the bishops retire and new ones are put in place by Pope Benedict, things are changing.........................slowly.
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I pray the Rosary on the train every morning; the trip, if it is on time or near it, takes exactly the right time. I pray the Fatima Prayer for those in my car who are most need of His mercy, especially the mothers of young, vigorus men who remain glued to their seats pretending to be asleep while the elderly and the women stand.... On days when I do not take the train I pray with Mother Angelica.
I gave up television except for EWTN and on Sundays something educational.
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