Hi, I am still not sure I am in the right place for posting this but here goes
I want to celebrate Lent this year for real but after much reading I am finding out that what I thought was Lent is not and now I am completely confused. I understand it is a time of repentance But does anyone know where I can find more information? perhaps some meditation ideas?
I know I am being a pain but I have one more question?? I read about giving your pain to God and trials in this life but I just don’t understand how? How does one give your pain or suffer pain for God? how does that work?
for good books on lent and meditations for lent(like the passion of Christ) try
www.tanbooks.com
and as for your last question, you give your sufferings to Jesus by accepting it, and you accept it by not complaining and pretty much hiding it as best as you can(unless you need medical attention D_D )
when you want to offer up your sufferings, you can say some short prayer of offering, such as the Fatima prayer -
*“Oh my Jesus,
it is for love of Thee,
in reparation for the offenses committed
against the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
and for the conversion of poor sinners.
Amen.” *
or even your own little prayer if you want, even a simple “I offer this up”
and you can offer your pain up for whatever you want, in reparation for your sins, for the blasphemes committed against the Holy Name of God, for the sins against chastity, or whatever else.
although it is never fun to suffer, but we can still suffer with joy, because when we suffer with Jesus and think of His sufferings as we suffer, then Jesus isn’t suffering alone, He has us to walk with Him and Him with us, and that is a most comforting thought, and truly, although we can’t see Him, He is always with us, suffering with us, comforting us, supporting us, you never suffer alone,
we all suffer in this world whether we accept it or not, but when we do accept it, we actually suffer less and gain many graces and merits from it, but when we reject suffering, we actually suffer more and gain nothing…
if you really want to learn how to suffer for Jesus and how to offer it up properly, read up on the lives of the saints and their writings, especially Saint Gemma, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Germaine…although any will help you, but those ones i think are particularly good to learn from.
i do have a few articles you can read right now on penance and mortification, which is what we do during lent…
gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=13047443
gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=12961409
gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=12961507
as for books for meditations, here are a few i personally favor -
free e-book -
archive.org/stream/thecrownofsorrow00gooduoft/thecrownofsorrow00gooduoft_djvu.txt
tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage/product_id/187/keywords/passion/
tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage/product_id/697/keywords/meditation/
and other than that, you can search the site with keywords like lent, or suffering, or the passion of Christ, or penance,
and also here are two other good sites for books -
(on OLRL they have free books and articles you can read)
olrl.org/
www.fraternitypublications.com
ok and just for some additional information for you about lent,
every day of lent except Friday and Sunday are only days of fast, which means only 3 meals, one full and two small, and the small meals not equaling one full meal together, and only the primary meal of the day may contain meat, and no eating or snacking between meals, although liquids, such as milk and fruit juice, are aloud.
Fridays during lent are days of fast and total abstinence, meaning the same rules for fast as mentioned above, plus no consumption of meat whatsoever, and no meat gravies or meat soups,
Sundays are days of no fast and no abstinence, since it’s the day of rest, you can pretty much eat whatever whenever(without being gluttonous of course d: )
for any health or work concerns, fasting and abstinence should be discussed with your priest or confessor, and it would be a good idea to talk to you priest about fasting and abstinence and other lent things to(like penance and mortification)
and one more thing, i think you would benefit from reading these two books -
gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=18087275
gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=18175319
they will help you understand Gods will for you and why we suffer and also how to accept suffering and Gods will in everything.
ok and if you have any other questions i’d be glad to help you, so don’t worry cause you’re not being a “pain”, this forum is for questions, and we’re here to answer them, so ask away :3
alright, hope this helps, tc.
