First Lent as a Catholic

[demetrios423]

I will be observing my first Lent this year as a Catholic and am not sure of what is required of us. I plan to ask Father after mass on Sunday, but would appreciate any help I you can offer now.

 

[LittleHannah]

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are two fast days Strict fast ] You are only allowed to eat one meal and 2 small quatities of food that don’t equal a meal if necessary ] and no snacking during the day. You are not allowed to eat meat during all fridays of Lent. The Practice of ‘‘giving something up’’ for Lent is your on personal choice. Although it is a good practice to deney sweets, television, things that you like etc… Welcome to the Church

 

[bscastro]

What Hannah said…just wanted to add my welcome to the Church.

God bless,
B

 

[anp1215]

I will be observing my first Lent this year as a Catholic and am not sure of what is required of us. I plan to ask Father after mass on Sunday, but would appreciate any help I you can offer now.

It’s my first Lent as a Catholic too!

You’ve gotten good advice.

 

[jojo96]

and extra prayers throughout Lent are great too.
i guess i’ll give up chocolate again… maybe… it tastes so much better when Easter finally arrives
unfortunately, it probably wouldn’t be such a fantastic thing to give up, say, brussel sprouts…

 

[sparrowhawk28]

Welcome to the Church

You’ve gotten some good advice thus far, but another idea is - in addition to (or instead of) giving something up, you could try practicing little acts of kindness or reflection each day - such as giving to charity, helping someone in need, doing something kind for another person, praying, meditating or reading Scripture. I began doing this a few years ago and find it both challenging and beneficial.

 

[Castello]

There is a WEALTH of information here

jimmyakin.com/2006/03/annual_lent_fig.html

 

[lucusk]

I will be observing my first Lent this year as a Catholic and am not sure of what is required of us. I plan to ask Father after mass on Sunday, but would appreciate any help I you can offer now.

Thanks for this!! I will also be observing my first lent as a Catholic this year.

 

[raaucoin]

The most important thing to remember is that Lent is a gift to us. It is a precious opportunity to draw near to the Lord through prayer, fasting,penance. Whatever we choose to do for penance should bring us closer to the Lord. If I give something up, I try to give the money I would have spent to the poor. But I usually find that I need to add some things rather than give up. Like spending more time with scripture, in prayer. I use to go to weekday Mass on a daily basis. I’ve gotten lazy. So I’m going to go to Mass every day during lent.
To those of you observing your first Lent, I keep you in my prayers. Please pray for me.

 

[demetrios423]

Here is what Monsignor emailed me when I asked:

The obligation for the fast is for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Abstinence from meat on the Fridays from Ash Wed to Good Friday is also observed by the faithful. Additional acts of prayer, fasting and almsgiving are encouraged and determined by the individual. I hope this helps clarify. There is more information on the fast at old.usccb.org/lent/fast.shtml - this website also provides alot of information on other aspects of Lent.

 

[Annabelle_Marie]

I will be observing my first Lent this year as a Catholic and am not sure of what is required of us. I plan to ask Father after mass on Sunday, but would appreciate any help I you can offer now.

I would highly recommend the Triduum (Holy Week). CAF’s suggested it to me when I came back to the Church…and I love it! In fact Holy Thursday is my favorite Mass of the whole year!