Ash Wednesday.

Image: Ash Wednesday. Artist: Julian Fałat. Date: 1881.

Illustration: REGINA

ASH WEDNESDAY.

This Article is taken from, and can be read in full at, REGINA

Lent (the word “Lent” comes from Old English “Lencten,” meaning “Springtime), lasts from Ash Wednesday to Vespers of Holy Saturday — forty days, plus six Sundays, which don't count as “Lent”, Liturgically.

The Latin name for Lent, "Quadragesima", means forty, and refers to the forty days Christ spent in the desert, which is the origin of the Season.

The last two weeks of Lent are known as “Passiontide,” made up of Passion Week and Holy Week. The last three days of Holy Week — Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday — are known as the “Sacred Triduum.”

The focus of this Season is The Cross, and Penance, Penance, Penance, as we imitate Christ's forty days of Fasting, like Moses and Elias before Him, and await The Triumph of Easter.

We Fast (see below), abstain, mortify the flesh, give alms, and think more of charitable works. Awakening each morning with the thought: “How might I make amends for my sins ? How can I serve God in a reparative way ? How can I serve others, today ?” is the attitude to have.

We meditate on “The Four Last Things”: Death, Judgement, Heaven, and Hell, and we also practice mortifications by “giving up something” that would be a sacrifice to do without.

The sacrifice could be anything from desserts to television to the marital embrace, and it can entail, too, taking on something unpleasant that we'd normally avoid, for example, going out of one's way to do another's chores, performing “random acts of kindness,” etc. A practice that might help some, especially small children to think sacrificially, is to make use of “Sacrifice Beads”, in the same way that Saint Thérèse of Lisieux did as a child.

Because of the focus on Penance and Reparation, it is Traditional to make sure we go to Confession at least once during this Season, to fulfil the precept of The Church that we go to Confession at least once a year, and receive The Eucharist at least once a year during Eastertide.

ASH WEDNESDAY.

A beautiful old custom, associated with Lenten Confession, is to, before going to see the Priest, bow before each member of your household and to any you've sinned against, and say: “In the Name of Christ, forgive me if I've offended you.”

One responds with: “God will forgive you.” Done with an extensive examination of conscience and a sincere heart, this practice can be quite healing (also note that confessing sins to a Priest is a Sacrament, which remits Mortal and Venial sins; confessing sins to those you've offended is a Sacramental, which, like all Sacramentals, one piously takes advantage of, remits Venial sins. Both are quite good for the Soul !)

In addition to mortification and charity, seeing and living Lent as a forty day Spiritual Retreat is a good thing to do. Spiritual Reading should be engaged in (over and above one's regular Lectio Divina). Maria von Trapp recommended “The Book of Jeremias and The Works of Saints, such as The Ascent of Mount Carmel, by Saint John of The Cross; The Introduction to a Devout Life, by Saint Francis de Sales; The Story of a Soul, by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux; The Spiritual Castle, by Saint Teresa of Avila; The Soul of The Apostolate, by Abbot Chautard; The Books of Abbot Marmion, and similar works.”

As to Prayer, Praying the beautiful Seven Penitential Psalms (Psalms 6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, and 142) is a Traditional practice. It is most Traditional to Pray all of these each day of Lent, but, if time is an issue, you can Pray them all on just The Fridays of Lent, or, because there are seven of them, and seven Fridays in Lent, you might want to consider Praying one on each Friday.

These Psalms, which include the Psalms “Miserére” and “De Profundis,” are perfect expressions of contrition and Prayers for Mercy. So apt are these Psalms at expressing contrition, that, as he lay dying in 430 A.D., Saint Augustine asked that a Monk write them in large letters near his bed, so he could easily read them.

Another great Prayer for this Season is that of Saint Ephraem, Doctor of The Church (+ 373 A.D.). This Prayer is often Prayed with a Prostration after each Stanza:

"Oh, Lord, and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despondency, lust of power, and idle talk;

But, grant rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to thy servant.

ASH WEDNESDAY.

Yea, Oh, Lord, and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother; for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages".

In The East, this Prayer is Prayed Liturgically during Lent and is followed by: “Oh, God, cleanse me a sinner”, Prayed twelve times, with a bow following each, and one last Prostration.

Also, on all Fridays during Lent, one may gain a Plenary Indulgence, under the usual conditions, by reciting the "En ego, O bone et dulcissime Iesu" (Prayer Before a Crucifix) before an image of Christ Crucified.

Food in Lent.

According to The 1983 Code of Canon Law, the rule for The Universal Church during Lent is Abstain on all Fridays (inside or outside of Lent) and to both Fast and Abstain on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Some Traditional Catholics might follow the older pattern of Fasting and Abstinence during this time, which, for The Universal Church, required:

Ash Wednesday, all Fridays, and all Saturdays: Fasting and total Abstinence. This means three meat-less meals — with the two smaller meals not equalling in size the main meal of the day — and no snacking;

ASH WEDNESDAY.

Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays (except Ash Wednesday), and Thursdays: Fasting and Partial Abstinence from meat. This means three meals — with the two smaller meals not equalling in size the main meal of the day — and no snacking, but meat can be eaten at the principal meal;

On those Days of Fasting and Abstinence, meat-less soup is Traditional. Sundays, of course, are always free of Fasting and Abstinence; even in the heart of Lent, Sundays are about The Glorious Resurrection. This pattern of Fasting and Abstinence ends after The Vigil Mass of Holy Saturday.

As to special Lenten foods, vegetables, sea-foods, salads, pastas, and beans, mark the Season, in addition to the meat-less soups. The Fasting of this time once even precluded the eating of eggs and fats, so the chewy pretzel became the bread and symbol of the times.

They'd always been a Christian food, ever since Roman times, their very shape being the creation of Monks. The three holes represent The Holy Trinity, and the twists of the dough represent the arms of someone Praying. In fact, the word “pretzel” is a German word deriving ultimately from the Latin “bracellae,” meaning “little arms” (The Vatican has the oldest known representation of a pretzel, found on a 5th-Century A.D. Manuscript).