Are You Preparing For Lent?

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I have decided to start 2 days early this year; which will atone for the fact that on the 7th of March, it is my birthday, so can’t promise to be good, and also, the 14th of March is my son’s 10th birthday, and my 13th wedding anniversary, so the likelyhood of being good that day, is highly improbable! 😃 😛
I pray that God grants us all the strength to follow through with our various goals for Lent.
My goals are-:
  1. Give up chocolate (Indeed a great sacrafice for this
    chocoholic!)
  2. Read one chapter each of the O.T, the N.T, Psalms and
    Deuterocanonicals, daily
  3. Read one devotional reading about the Early Father’s
    daily. The book contains 40 readings, so it’s perfect for lent.
  4. Be more prayful, including saying the Rosary, the prayer for
    ’ Help Against Spiritual Enemies.’ and the Lenten Prayer, daily.
  5. Put aside some money every day of lent, which will then go
    to buy clothes or blankets or basic necessities which will be
    given to a charity organization to distribute to the needy.
  6. I will forgo breakfast, daily, although I will have a drink of
    water to keep me hydrated.
Lenten Prayer -: catholicforum.com/saints/pray0339.htm

Help Against Spiritual Enemies -: yenra.com/catholic/prayers/forhelpagainstspiritualenemies.html

Pax Vobiscum
 
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Nun_ofthe_Above:
  1. Read one devotional reading about the Early Father’s
    daily. The book contains 40 readings, so it’s perfect for lent.
I’ve been trying to find a book like that! What’s the title/author?

Thanks!! 🙂
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Great Fast for believers in Russia and Ukraine is 48 days long. Fast of 40 days: chetyredesiatnitsa, Lazareva Saturday, Entrance Lord in Jerusalem Sunday, Week of Passion (6 days). Fast anticipated by 3 weeks with lesser fasts and then by Forigveness Sunday (Proschennoye voskresen’e) when all peoples ask for forgiveness of others and priest and laity.

Fast is most severe during first days and during Week of Passion. Avoid eating but once, not to eat meat, fish, oil, wine, eggs milk, except Saturdays when fish allowed. Very interesting traditional fast soups and recipes for aubergine very often during Great Lent. Pray frequently the Prayer of Efrem Syrian, Gospodi i vladyko zhivota mojeho and to have spirit of purity, humility, patience, love and avoid emptiness, despair, idle talk as prayer St. Efrem says.
 
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glizmo:
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Nun_ofthe_Above:
  1. Read one devotional reading about the Early Father’s
    daily. The book contains 40 readings, so it’s perfect for lent.
I’ve been trying to find a book like that! What’s the title/author?

Thanks!! 🙂
Click to expand...
Hi glizmo, 🙂
The book is from the ‘Rekindling the Inner Fire’ devotional series. It’s called ‘You Give Me New Life - A 40 Day Journey in the Company of The Early Disciples’ It is a set of devotional readings based on letters by some of the Early Fathers, which have been paraphrased by the author, David Hazard. It is from Bethany House Publishers. I beleive you can order it online, although I found it at my local Christian Shop.
It isn’t a huge book, but I love the readings, and I love the fact that each new chapter has at least one bible verse at the start of it, which encapsulates the essence of the reading. If you decide to purchase it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Pax vobiscum
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Dear friends

I have found over time that the most explicit way to enter into self-sacrifice is not to give something up but to do more. To give more of oneself to others, to try harder for our brothers and sisters, to make an effort to aid others and give of our time, love, hearts, and spirit. To forget the self and enter into giving as our Lord did on the Cross, for the whole of humanity.

Prayer is the greatest way of giving, it is in those unseen and unprofessed things that God works most powerfully. Prayer is the greatest thing you can ever do for another.

This Lent pray for your enemies, pray for your loved ones and pray for the drug addict, the stranger, those who people deem undesirable, because those who are lost in society are those Jesus desires most to bring to Himself and shower His Mercy upon.

This is my Lenten offering and desire.

My abstaining from chocolate may be noble , but to forget myself and pray for the other is nobler still

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa
 
I confess I hadn’t even thought about it yet. I didn’t realise it’s only a couple of weeks away. Last year I didn’t do particularly well so I’ll have to try harder this year :o I got probably halfway and then started to forget and/or neglect the things I was supposed to be doing. Does anyone have any advice on how to stop that happening?
 
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Augustine:
Yes, it’s been in my mind since January 1st too. I’ve got a faint idea about what to do and will be praying a novena for inspiration.

Though a craddle Catholic, having been born in the 60s resulted in poor catechisis. This is going to be the 3rd Lent we observe and I like to bring pious or virtous habits into life, beyond the 40 days of Lent.
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What a good idea! To pray a novena for inspiration about your Lenten observance…thanks for the tip.

My only inspiration so far is that I am going to ‘fast’ from being such a couch potato, and plan to get back on my walking plan seriously during Lent. This poor temple of my body has been abused and neglected recently.:o
 
Trying to, of the three main foci (i.e., prayer, fasting and almsgiving), we have two wrapped up and I am certain after reading these boards we will wrap up the third.

As a family we are giving up all meals out, whether that be a sit-down dinner, ordering a pizza in or hitting the drive through at a fast food place. We are going to calculate the money we would have spent on this for of entertainment and donate that to Catholic Reflief Services for the Tsunami victims. I am also going to give up meat on Wednesday as well. So that covers both fasting and alms.

Now on to prayer–We already read the daily Bible readings before dinner every night. We are thinking about daily Rosary after dinner each night. But like I wrote, many of my fellow posters have great ideas.
 
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KiwiCatholic86:
I confess I hadn’t even thought about it yet. I didn’t realise it’s only a couple of weeks away. Last year I didn’t do particularly well so I’ll have to try harder this year :o I got probably halfway and then started to forget and/or neglect the things I was supposed to be doing. Does anyone have any advice on how to stop that happening?
Click to expand...
That was my biggest problem so last year I did up a sort of grid in a notebook and every night I would tick each item that I had managed to keep during that day. I try to have a mix of giving up and doing extra (e.g. give up reading - except for religious books; give up sweets & chocolate; do at least one thing without being asked [housework; offering lifts to family members; not watching the progam I want to see etc]; go to Mass during the week etc.)
 
I will be recieved into the Catholic Church this Easter Vigil and I have been praying to do something that will help me prepare for this very special day.
I have decided to attempt to pray the Rosary daily ( I have a very difficult time with this) and then during the Holy Week I would like to fast once a day and take up the Divine Mercy Chaplet as well.
 
Normally I blow it during Lent but I have made it important to think about Lent before it gets here. I will be specifically working on obedience, and will carry this work throughout the year. I really want to make my Lent experience valuable and a period of growth and humility.

ybiC,
Trevor
 
I am going to say the Rosary everyday during Lent and hopefully continue throughout the year. Also, i am going to spend time with the Blessed Sacrament at least once a week. Since it is the year of the Eucharist, i feel this is a good start. I have never expereiced Eucharistic Adorations before. I am looking forward to it.
 
Yes, I am looking forward to Lent.

In fact, my husband and I will be fasting Monday through Friday.
We will eat very lightly on Saturday and Sunday and then go right back to fasting Monday through Friday until Easter. Of course we will not be eating meat - only fish, fruit and vegetables.

We are planning to continue saying the rosary every day (in fact we say the conplete rosary four times during our hour walk on the walker - Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries). This makes our spiritual time with God very special and begins our day in a grand way.

God Bless everyone - we are all on our own spiritual journey’s and God is a wonderful God who has created us all and loves us deeply. Praise God and Thank You Jesus.
Blessing to all, LaDonna
 
I’ve been thinking hard about it. I try to manage 5 disciplines (for the 5 wounds of Christ) I rarely manage all successfully, but I try.
  1. Giving up chocolate on Fridays. I don’t eat meat on Fridays anyway, so “no chocolate” would be a good physical reminder
  2. Daily meditations from In Conversation with God (by F. Fernandez)
  3. Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Mary on Wednesdays
  4. Stations of the Cross on Fridays (at church or with my beads)
  5. View TPOTC three times
Daily rosary and daily Mass same as usual.

Now that I have put it in writing, maybe it will be easier to accomplish!!! smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_12_6.gif
 
Well, I’m pretty much ready for lent.

I called Dish Network and suspended my satelite tv from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday, I will assist Father with a Holy Hour every Wed. evening and will lead Stations of the Cross every Friday eve., @ our parish. I just got 2 books on the Ignatius retreat, “A Do It At Home Retreat,” by Andre Ravier, S.J. & “A Vacation With the Lord,” By Thomas H. Green, S.J. and " The Last Things," by Regis Martin, for spiritual reading. I’m going to a Catholic men’s conference this Saturday and will try to go to mass every day.

Please pray for me this lenten season; I will be praying for all of you and your families.

God Bless You,
 
I’m thinking of starting a group study on “The Passion of The Christ” using the materials at Catholic Exchange.
 
Besides the required fasting, etc. and maybe spending less time on CA forums, I plan on visting a local Rest Home to spend time with the elderly and the infirmed…
 
This will be my first Lent of doing anything.

I’ma give up sugar. shudder

Fast Wednesdays and Fridays with no meat on Fri’s.

Read all 4 gospels once. This can be done by reading 2 chapters a day for 31 days and 3 chapters a day for 9 days. That’s not too bad.

I’m not very good at prayer. I never have been. I’m going to try to make a decent prayer at least twice a day, even if they are pre-written. I don’t care. I need the habit BAD.

I think that’s it.
 
I give up meat every year for lent. I also plan to include daily reading and meditating upon scripture. Reading a book by Fulten Sheen I’ve been meaning to, and making sure I get to adoration everyweek.

We also are having a one day lenten symposium at our parish that includes speakers Raymond Arroyo, Fr. William Thomas; Fr. Jacques Dailey, O.S.B; Br. Leo Wollenweber; Joseph Vallentic; Fr. Angelus M. Shaughnessy; Dr. John Hittenger; Fr. Pablo Straub and Fr. Val Rykowski which I am very excited about.
 
Dear Friends

I just wanted to wish you all well in your Lenten offerings and I will pray that you are all faithful to them.

God Bless you all and much love and peace to you

Teresa
 
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