Lent, Stations of the Cross, Sacramentals

Opening prayer:

Seeking and Finding God

Faithful God, You give us forty days of Lent to quiet ourselves and explore the inner chambers of our hearts. Let these sacred days be a time when we seek and find you there. Passionate God, May we find you even in our tears and in our pain and in whatever troubles our hearts. Keep us from all that separates us from You. Be with us and in us. Amen

Lent

Compared to a person in training. Each year before the season, she must "train" and exercise. In some sense, Lent is the same routine each year: forty days. fasting and abstinence, more time in church, increased devotino, alms giving. St. Paul tells us we are in a race (1 Cor 9:24; 2 Tm 4:7) and we compete for a prize in Christ Jesus. 24 Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win. 25 Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable oneTo be a winning athlewte takes time, effort, and dedication. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but w an imperishable (1 Cor 9:25).

• Starts with Ash Wednesday. Ashes are a sign of repentance humility and renouncing pride.

• Significance of 40 days
  • Moses and the Israelites wandered for 40 years in the desert as they prepared to enter to promised land of freedom and life (Nm 14:33-34). Jesus fasted for 40 days prior to beginning his public ministry (Lk 4:1-14) Thus 40 days became the standard of the Christian period of preparation.
• Count the days

• Ashes - In both the Old and New Testaments, ashes are associated with mourning and repentance (Est. 4:1-3; Jb 42:6; Ps 102:9; Mt 11:21.)
  • "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel", "Remember man you are dust, and to dust you will return".

• Penitential Practices
  • Lent is a season for turning away from sin and living a life more conformed to the will and plan of God. Like diet and exercise for the athlete, prayer, mortification, and almsgiving are ways for the Catholic to grow in faith and get closer to Jesus.
    • Fasting -
      • abstaining from something good and legitimate for the sake of something better and more important. A person fasts to imitate in some small way to the suffering of Jesus
      • Eating pancakes or donuts on Shrove Tuesday developed because that day was the last opportunity before Lent to enjoy foods made with milk and butter. Also explains the origin of the tradition of Easter Eggs. After a lent without eggs, those enjoyed on Easter tasted especially good!
      • Fasting only required on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday
    • Abstinence one form of fasting is the abstaining from meat of Fridays. At the time of the regulation, meat was the flesh of warm-blooded creatures. Cold-blodded creatures such as fish were not included because they are cold-blooded.

• Prayer, fasting and alms giving.

Sacramentals

Sacramental: Definition: Sacred signs (such as holy water and a crucifix) that bear some resemblance to the sacraments, but which do not carry the guarantee of God's grace associated with the seven sacraments. (Catholic Faith Handbook for Youth)

Symbols and rituals used in the church besides the sacraments.

• holy water
• Paschal Candle
• votive lights
• crsses/crucifixes
• medals and statutes of the saints
• blessed palm branches
• blessed ashes
• icons (special pictures of the saints)
• Incense
• Stations of the Cross

A special type of sacramental is a blessing, a prayer that calls on God's power to care for a person, place, thing, or undertaking. A prayer of blessing usually includes praise for God and his gifts and a request that those gifts be used in the spirit of the Gospel.

Stations of the Cross

• A popular devotion was to "walk the Passion with Jesus", by traveling the same route that Jesus had taken to Calvary. Along the way, the individual would stop at places of significance to spend a time of prayer and reflection.
• In the middle ages the practice arose of establishing these "stations" of the passion of Jesus in local churches. Individuyal stations would depict a specific scene or event on the walk to Calvary.
• The devotion has particular significance in Lent as the faithful anticipate the celebration of Christ's passion during Holy week.
• Christ directed each disciple to "take up his cross and Follow him (Mt. 16:24). The stations of the cross allow the believer to do that in a literal manner, while striving to me more intimately united with Christ in his Passion.

Resources

the Catholic Faith Handbook for Youth. Brian Singer-Towns, St. Mary's Press, 2004 Catholic Customs A Fresh Lok at Traditional Practices, Regis J. Flaherty, Servant Publications, 2002