Meat on Friday?
The US National Conference of Catholic Bishops Complementary Norms on Penance and Abstinence, issued November 18, 1966, reads in part: “Lent has had a different history from Advent among us. Beginning with the powerful lesson of Ash Wednesday, it has retained its ancient appeal to the penitential spirit of our people. It has […]
Rules of Fasting and Abstinence
1) Abstinence: No meat is eaten on days of abstinence. Days of Abstinence are every Friday in Lent, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Everyone 14 and older are bound to abstain from meat on days of abstinence (invalids, pregnant and nursing mothers are exempt). 2) Fasting: Fasting means having only one full meal to maintain […]
The Gift Of Lent
MARK SHEA Many of my Protestant friends are uncomfortable with Lent. “It’s all about mortification and self-discipline when we know that the Risen Jesus is joyful and alive!” they say. “We don’t need to mortify ourselves to please God. That’s why Jesus died for us, so we don’t have be ‘good enough’. Moreover, Catholics call […]
THE OBSERVANCE OF LENT
From the Family Sourcebook for Lent and Easter Part I The penitential season of Lent is the period of forty weekdays beginning on Ash Wednesday. It is a season of the Church year, which commemorates the forty days Jesus fasted and prayed in the wilderness before he began his public ministry of preaching for repentance. […]
EASTER
FEAST OF THE RESURRECTION The joy and exultation over this greatest of all Christian feasts is evident in the writings of the saints and Fathers from earliest times. Easter is referred to as the “peak (akropolis) of all feasts” and the “Queen of all solemnities.” Saint Gregory of Nazianz (390) wrote, “This highest Feast and […]
The Easter Bunny
Have you ever wondered how a rabbit and chocolate eggs became associated with Easter? Wasn’t it supposed to be about the resurrection of Jesus. The Rabbit The exact origins of the famous bunny are unclear however many sites have stated that it may have come from pre-Christian Germany. The hare was said to be the […]
Eating Meat during Days of Fast and Abstinence
Meat, in its broadest definition, is animal tissue used as food. Most often it references to skeletal muscle and associated fat, but it may also refer to non-muscle organs, including lungs, livers, skin, brains, bone marrow and kidneys. The word meat is also used by the meat packing and butchering industry in a more restrictive […]
Lent and the Shadow of the Cross
Victor R. Claveau, MJ There is legend of the Shadow of the Cross. Jesus is about ten years old. He is returning to His mother, perhaps from an errand. It is near evening, and the sun is sinking, casting long shadows on the ground. As Jesus approaches, He opens wide His arms, waiting for His […]
Holy Season of Lent
Colin B. Donovan, STL Fast and Abstinence. It is a traditional doctrine of Christian spirituality that a constituent part of repentance, of turning away from sin and back to God, includes some form of penance, without which the Christian is unlikely to remain on the narrow path and be saved (Jer 18:11, 25:5; Ez 18:30, 33:11-15; […]
All About Lent
James Akin Q: What is Lent? A: Historically, Lent is the forty day period before Easter, excluding Sundays, it began on Ash Wednesday and ended on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter Sunday). In recent years, this has been modified so that it now ends with evening Mass on Holy Thursday, to prepare the way […]