Lent / Easter News
Christians should make the living God visible to the world: Pope Benedict XVI, Chrism Mass
By • Catholic Online • 4/25/2011
He opens our humanity for the gift of the Holy Spirit. The more we are united to Christ, the more we are filled with his Spirit, with the Holy Spirit. We are called "Christians": "anointed ones" - people who belong to Christ and hence have a share in his anointing, being touched by his Spirit. "I ...
Holy Saturday: The Whole Earth Keeps Silence Because the King is Asleep
By • Catholic Online • 4/23/2011
Something strange is happening - there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world ...
Good Friday: The Church is Born from the Wounded Side of the Crucified Christ
By • Catholic Online • 4/22/2011
Christ has flooded the universe with divine and sanctifying waves. For the thirsty he sends a spring of living water from the wound which the spear opened in His Side. From the wound in Christ's side has come forth the Church, and He has made her His Bride. CHESAPEAKE, VA. (Catholic Online) - "But ...
Lord, awaken in us the desire for you: Holy Thursday Homily of Pope Benedict XVI
By • Catholic Online • 4/22/2011
"I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you". Lord, you desire us, you desire me. You eagerly desire to share yourself with us in the Holy Eucharist, to be one with us. Lord, awaken in us the desire for you. Strengthen us in unity with you and with one another. Grant unity to your Church, ...
Meditating on the Passion. Good Friday: God is Dead
By • Catholic Online • 4/22/2011
As we trod with Jesus the steps to Golgotha that draw Lent to a close, let us look upon the healing execution. See what evil does to the earth, to the world, to goodness, and know that it is also VANQUISHED. It is Good Friday. Let us lift our eyes to the Son of God upon the cross, for "He has power ...
The Holy Thursday Mandatum: Washing Feet, Love is a Verb
By • Catholic Online • 4/22/2011
The Vigil Mass of Holy Thursday deepens our understanding of the Mystery of the self emptying of Jesus Christ. We celebrate the gift of the ministerial priesthood which continues to make present the Priesthood of Jesus Christ. When our Priest stands at that altar, it is Jesus Christ in whom He ...
Stay Awake, Avoid Callousness toward Evil: Pope Asks the Faithful to Keep Vigil
By • Catholic Online • 4/22/2011
Pope Benedict XVI reminded those who gathered in St Peters square - and all who participate in the great three days - that, like the disciples who fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane, we also tend to lethargy when we are called to watch with Him. There is a maxim that addresses the ...
Holy Thursday: Learning to Love from the God who Washes Feet
By • Catholic Online • 4/22/2011
Jesus Christ takes up the basin, towel and washcloth. We behold Divine Love in service; pouring Himself out, like the water in that basin, in order to make all those whose feet were embraced by His sacred humanity clean all over. This is the mystery of faith that we profess during these Holy Days ...
The Happy Priest Reflects on Good Friday and Mary at the Cross
By • Catholic Online • 4/22/2011
It is precisely in difficult and challenging times that we must look to the witnesses of faith. Mary is the greatest of them all. Through her pilgrimage of faith, she walked into the night of faith. I differ with those who assume that the Blessed Mother stood at the Cross of Jesus ...
5th Sorrowful Mystery: The Crucifixion
By • Catholic Online • 4/22/2011
This Sorrowful pilgrimage now brings me here to this lonely hill. All the agony, the beatings and the bleeding have led me somewhere I do not want to go; somewhere I resist going with all my might. The bitter truth is this: I really don't want to die. But there's no getting around it. ...
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 »
