Lent / Easter News
Rising from the Ashes: Sir, Give Me This Water to Drink
By • Catholic Online • 3/10/2011
During these forty days of Lent we offer ourselves anew to God through abstinence, examination, confession, and renewal. The words of the woman at the well, which we will hear on the third Sunday of Lent, ring out as a reminder that there are many who need the faith we affirm. WASHINGTON, DC ...
Peter and Judas: A Lesson in Mercy and Hope
By • Catholic Online • 3/10/2011
In the Passion according to St. Mark we notice the parallel between Judas and Peter. Superficially, Peter and Judas have the same fate. Both betrayed Our Lord, both recognized their own guilt and felt remorse, both received Jesus' love even after the betrayal: A look. A kiss. Where is the ...
Pope Benedict XVI: On this Lenten Journey Let us be Attentive to Christ's Invitation
By • Catholic Online • 3/10/2011
Lent is a journey, accompanying Jesus as He travels to Jerusalem, the place where the mystery of His Passion, Death and Resurrection is to be fulfilled.The Christian life is a 'road' to be travelled, consisting not so much in a law to be observed as in the person of Christ Himself, Who ...
Congregation for the Clergy Sends Lenten 2011 Message to Priests
By • Catholic Online • 3/9/2011
A de-Christianised world requires a new evangelisation, yet a new evangelisation requires 'new' priests. Not Priests in the superficial sense, like every passing fashion, but in the sense of a heart profoundly renewed by every Holy Mass, renewed by the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, ...
Lent Begins: Ash Wednesday,Turn Away from Sin and Be Faithful to the Gospel
By • Catholic Online • 3/9/2011
Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel! These are the words I will pronounce on Ash Wednesday as the faithful come forward to receive ashes on their foreheads. Usually applied in the sign of the Cross, they are a symbol of our willingness to enter into a protracted period of prayer, ...
Called to Ongoing Conversion: Death,Lent and Ashes
By • Catholic Online • 3/9/2011
The truth is that you will die within the next hundred years, and reminding you of this truth is one of the primary purposes behind Ash Wednesday. Embracing our Lenten ashes means we recognize the need for deeper conversion. Conversion always involves "giving something up" in some form, but the ...
The Happy Priest: Ash Wednesday, Examination of Conscience and Conversion
By • Catholic Online • 3/9/2011
The ashes on our forehead remind us of the human condition: Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. However, sometimes, you will have to go real deep and discover inner attitudes that may be the root of your sinful behavior. Sometimes you will need a spiritual colonoscopy. ...
Ask Dr. Denton: It's Lent. Can You Explain the Effects of Fasting?
By • Catholic Online • 3/9/2011
Prayer and fasting leads us to a deeper closeness to God and to peace and beauty within. Interestingly, fasting also gives our body a time to clean out the weight of a heavy year. Fasting on a purely physical level does have some significant and wonderful benefits. The benefits of fasting are ...
Ash Wednesday signals the beginning of Lent
By • Catholic Online • 3/8/2011
In the year 2011, Lent begins on March 9, better known Ash Wednesday. Catholics traditionally observe Ash Wednesday by going to mass to receive ashes on our foreheads, and to give something up until Easter. LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of ...
Mardi Gras: Much More than a Party
By • Catholic Online • 3/8/2011
One could call this the last gasp of Ordinary time as the Church anticipates the Season of Lent. Rich foods are consumed as pilgrims prepare for times of fasting, abstinence, confession and penance. WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - Today is Mardi Gras, or "Fat Tuesday." Usually we think of New ...
More Easter / Lent
'So it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead' - Luke 24:46
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption. continue reading
Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four canonical Gospels. (Mark 11:1.11, Matthew 21:1.11, Luke 19:28.44, and John 12:12.19) ... continue reading
On Palm Sunday, we celebrate the first joy of the season, as we celebrate Our Lord's triumphant entrance into Jerusalem where he was welcomed by crowds worshiping him and laying down palm leaves before him. It also marks the beginning of Holy Week... continue reading
HOLY THURSDAY is the most complex and profound of all religious observances. It celebrates his last supper with the disciples, a celebration of Passover ... continue reading
On Good Friday, each member of the Church tries to understand at what cost Christ has won our redemption. In the solemn ceremonies of Holy Week we unite ourselves to our Savior, and we contemplate our own death to sin in the Death of our Lord ... continue reading
Easter is the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year. Leo I (Sermo xlvii in Exodum) calls it the greatest feast (festum festorum), and says that Christmas is celebrated only in preparation for Easter. It is the centre of the greater part of the ecclesiastical year ... continue reading
Explore Easter, Lent & Pentecost Season
For most people the easiest practice to consistently fulfill will be the traditional one, to abstain from meat on all Fridays of the year. During Lent abstinence from meat on Fridays is obligatory in the United States as elsewhere. Christ Himself said that His disciples would fast once He had departed (Lk. 5:35). continue reading
Everything answered from when does lent end, ashes, giving something up, stations of the cross and blessed palms. The key to understanding the meaning of Lent is simple: Baptism... continue reading
Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours (or Passion) of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. First Station: Jesus is condemned to death... pray the stations now
What did you give up for Lent?
From the humorous to the bizarre, people have had interesting Lenten experiences. Tell us about what you are going to give up for this Lenten Year.
What others gave up »
Lent / Easter News
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The Power of the Resurrection in our Lives: Christ Is Risen; Indeed, He Is Risen!
F. K. Bartels - Catholic Online, 4/6/2013There is great cause for belief in the Resurrection. One of the most wonderful tenets of Catholicism and the true Christian religion the Church transmits, is that the Resurrection is a historical ...Continue Reading
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What a Day! What a Way, the Easter Way, Alleluia!
Deacon Keith Fournier - Catholic Online, 4/1/2013Have you have heard the old adage, used often in a disparaging way, He´s so heavenly he is no earthly good. I suggest again that it misses the mark completely. We are Easter people. We are called to ...Continue Reading
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The Surprise of Easter
Fr. Randy Sly - Catholic Online, 3/31/2013To make sure that all mankind knows that it is not over but actually just beginning, God has an Easter bombshell. While we may have been able to anticipate the wondrous joy of a day of resurrection, ...Continue Reading
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Easter Vigil Homily of Pope Francis: Let the Risen Jesus Enter Your Life
Pope Francis - Catholic Online, 3/31/2013Our daily problems and worries can wrap us up in ourselves, in sadness and bitterness... and that is where death is. That is not the place to look for the One who is alive! Let the risen Jesus enter ...Continue Reading
Good Friday
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On Good Friday, the entire Church fixes her gaze on the Cross at Calvary. Each member of the Church tries to understand at what cost Christ has won our redemption.
The Cross
In the symbol of the Cross we can see the magnitude of the human tragedy, the ravages of original sin, and the infinite love of God. Learn More
Ash Wednesday
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Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption.
The Ashes
The ashes are made from the blessed palms used in the Palm Sunday celebration of the previous year. The ashes are christened with Holy Water and are scented by exposure to incense. Learn More
Stations of the Cross
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Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours (or Passion) of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion.
Opening Prayer
ACT OF CONTRITION. O my God, my Redeemer, behold me here at Thy feet. From the bottom of my heart... Pray the Stations
Fasting & Abstinence
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'Christ Himself said that His disciples would fast once He had departed' Lk. 5:35
Abstinence. The law of abstinence requires a Catholic 14 years of age until death to abstain from eating meat on Fridays in honor of the Passion of Jesus on Good Friday. Salt and freshwater species of fish, amphibians, reptiles and shellfish are permitted.
Fasting. The law of fasting requires a Catholic from the 18th Birthday (Canon 97) to the 59th Birthday (i.e. the beginning of the 60th year, a year which will be completed on the 60th birthday) to reduce the amount of food eaten from normal. The Church defines this as one meal a day, and two smaller meals which if added together would not exceed the main meal.
Learn More »
