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We have come to the week that our final preparations for Lent must be finished. Ash Wednesday is only 3 days away! Today is Quinquagesima, since it falls about 50 days before the Paschal Feast, and is the last Sunday before Lent. Because of the tradition of abstinence from meat observed during Lent, this Sunday was called Dominica carnevala (Farewell-to-meat Sunday), (the Latin Carnem levare (carnelevarium) means "removal" or "withdrawal" of meat), from which comes the word "carnival."
If you have not made a plan for Lent, below is some information about what the Church expects from us, as well as some ideas for optional sacrifice, abstinence, and devotion.
The Rule of Fasting
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of universal fast and abstinence. Fasting is obligatory for all who have completed their 18th year and have not yet reached their 60th year. Fasting allows a person to eat one full meal. Two smaller meals may be taken, not to equal one full meal. Abstinence from meat is obligatory for all who have reached their 14th year.
Fridays in Lent are obligatory days of complete abstinence from meat for all who have completed their 14th year.
"Denying material food, which nourishes our body, nurtures an interior disposition to listen to Christ and be fed by His saving word. Through fasting and praying, we allow Him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God." — Pope Benedict XVI, Message for Lent 2009.
Pillars of Lenten Observance
The traditional pillars of Lenten observance are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The Church asks us to surrender ourselves to prayer and to the reading of Scripture, to fasting and to giving alms. The fasting that all observe together on Fridays is a sign of the daily Lenten discipline of individuals and households: fasting for certain periods of time, abstaining from certain foods, but also fasting from other things, like perhaps activities. Likewise, the giving of alms is an effort to share this world equally—not only through the distribution of money, but through the sharing of our time and talents.
The obligatory fast and abstinence were mentioned above. Below are optional suggestions that you might choose, in order to draw closer to the Lord as we share His journey through Lent. It is better to pick a few and do them well, than to choose many and overwhelm yourself so that you fail. You may want to print out your list so you won't forget the sacrifices you have chosen.
My Rule of Abstinence (the first is obligatory the next 2 are optional)
_____I will not eat meat on Fridays in Lent or on Ash Wednesday.
_____I will not eat meat at one meal each day.
_____I will eat meat at only one meal each day.
My Rule of Sacrifice
_____I will give up these specific foods or drinks
___________________________________________________________________
_____I will give up these specific expensive habits and carefully save the money for my Easter extraordinary offering
___________________________________________________________________
My Extraordinary Acts and Exercises of Devotion: (check those you will actualy do)
_____I will receive ashes on Ash Wednesday (Imposition of Ashes & Mass).
_____I will make my confession during Lent
_____I will attend a Lenten Program on Friday night (i.e. Stations of the Cross)
_____I will read the Holy Week Gospels a little every day, with devotion and meditation.
_____I will study the lessons appointed for the Sundays in Lent every week
_____I will make the Stations of the Cross as a personal devotion at least once each week
_____I will read a spiritual book.
_____I will take time out of my schedule for “quiet time” ___ each day, or ___ each week.
_____I will attend the Maundy Thursday Mass.
_____I will attend the Good Friday Liturgy.
_____I will make time to participate in the Virtual Pilgrimage of the Station Churches of Rome.
_____I will make a pilgrimage during Lent.
_____Other sacrifice or devotion of your choosing.
Amended from the recommendations for Lent from the Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham, The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, Roman Catholic Church
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