Today is Quinquagesima Sunday
Roughly 50 days before Easter and brings in the last few days before Quadragesima (40 days) for this Wednesday is Ash Wednesday - the start of Lent and the Season of Septuagesima winds to a close.
After today, we have two more days of preparation for Lent. Have you decided what you will be offering up for Lent this year? Have you considered ADDING something to your Lenten practice this year? Yes, the purpose in doing some sort of penance for Lent is to help you grow in holiness toward becoming a saint - so another consideration would be to ADD a practice, such as one of the corporal acts of mercy, during Lent. See the post from this year's Sexagesima Sunday for more on that.
Shrove or Fat Tuesday
How serious are you about Lent? One traditional practice for Lent is to get rid of all eggs and leaven on or by Shrove Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday) - and not partake in either until Easter Sunday. This tradition is still followed by Orthodox Christians and many in the Eastern Rite of Catholicism too. This is also where we get the tradition of Easter Eggs! Since you could not eat eggs during Lent, in order to preserve them longer - boil them! Then decorate them and on Easter Sunday, hide them around the house or the yard and let the children go hunting for them!
Ash Wednesday - Quadragesima Begins
The Season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, Quadragesima meaning "40 days." Some will say, "but wait, there's more than 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday!" Well, that is true - BUT - every Sunday, even Sundays during Lent, are "feast days" and are treated as a solemnity - and there is no penance on a solemnity. So, if you do not count the Sundays during Lent, it IS 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday of Holy Week!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep in mind while posting:
1) Please respond ON TOPIC to the article at hand.
2) Posts more than 4 weeks old are set to automatically save new comments for moderation - so your comment may not show up immediately if you're responding to an older post.
3) The "Spam Filter" is on - and randomly messages get caught in that filter. I have no control over which messages get caught in the spam filter and those that do must wait for me to mark them as "not spam." A message caught by the spam filter may show up for a moment, making you think it posted, and then disappear. Do not assume I have deleted your comment, it's probably just the spam filter and it will show up.