Suggestions for Lenten Penance

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Hi , I wou ld like to do some extra penance this upcoming Lent. I have thought about attending daily mass , saying daily rosary, and saying the Divine Mercy chaplet.

Can anyone give some suggestions about penance that maybe they themselves have done during lent and what effect it had on their spiritual life? thanks!
 
chrisetree said:
Hi , I wou ld like to do some extra penance this upcoming Lent. I have thought about attending daily mass , saying daily rosary, and saying the Divine Mercy chaplet.

Can anyone give some suggestions about penance that maybe they themselves have done during lent and what effect it had on their spiritual life? thanks!
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It wasn’t during Lent but in the summer I decided to start going to daily Mass on my lunch hour…it makes a huge difference on my spiritual life:thumbsup: For one thing, it’s easier to rein in my mouth and work harder not to sin after just coming from Mass.
 
last lent, i decided to turn off the radio in my car. It may seem like a small, dumb thing to do but it really wasnt. It allowed me to use the time spent driving to reflect and improve my relationship with God. Believe it or not, this one thing made a profound difference in my life and i felt at peace.
 
chrisetree said:
Hi , I wou ld like to do some extra penance this upcoming Lent. I have thought about attending daily mass , saying daily rosary, and saying the Divine Mercy chaplet.

Can anyone give some suggestions about penance that maybe they themselves have done during lent and what effect it had on their spiritual life? thanks!
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How about charity work?
 
JediHockey said:
last lent, i decided to turn off the radio in my car. It may seem like a small, dumb thing to do but it really wasnt. It allowed me to use the time spent driving to reflect and improve my relationship with God. Believe it or not, this one thing made a profound difference in my life and i felt at peace.
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I have done that also, and it works well, also at other times outside of the car.
 
JediHockey said:
last lent, i decided to turn off the radio in my car. It may seem like a small, dumb thing to do but it really wasnt. It allowed me to use the time spent driving to reflect and improve my relationship with God. Believe it or not, this one thing made a profound difference in my life and i felt at peace.
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3 years ago for Lent I listened only to religious podcasts and gospel music during Lent. I kept up the practice one day a week after Lent. 2 years ago I did it again, LOTH, prayers and Christian music, I continued 2 days a week after Lent. After last year I have continued everyday for my commute to and from work, unless my battery in my mp3 player dies (which I try to avoid).

Long story short, I understand what you mean, I have been happier and more at peace with myself. My prayer life is better than it was.

I want to also suggest to the OP try to pick something that you can continue in someway after Lent, believe me it does wonders to your life. Daily Mass, daily Rosary are good ideas, regular confession (i usually go once a month but for Lent you can do once a week or every 2 weeks). The Stations of the Cross is also good. I am getting the Magnificat Lenten Companion for use in my Lenten Devotions.
 
Also, donation of cash, foods, or time to the local parish food bank is good. Especially with people out of work, and also some people cannot shop.
 
When you get change from a cashier, instead of saving it for later, save it for when you go to Mass. You could give a percentage of it to your parish and the other to a charity at the church. Or just all to one of them.
 
My spiritual director told me that prayer is not a Lenten penance, that it should be some form of mortification, denial or doing works of charity. I also gave up the radio in the car one year and to this day only listen to it on long car rides.
 
Here are some of my favorites from years past:
  • Attend daily mass at least once a week
  • Stop cussing
  • Pick a different person each day and pray for them. At the end of lent, you will have helped 40+ people!
  • Pray the morning, evening, and bedtime prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours
The best part of this is that most of these stuck after Lent was over. :extrahappy:

Most of these were sacrifices of my time in private. I wish I had time to add external works to help others - even if it were just visiting the nursing homes. However, I am the RCIA director at my parish and Lent is a very busy time! Maybe I could count that… Hmmm… :hmmm:
 
Every year except last year, I’ve turned off secular TV and watched only EWTN, in addition to daily Mass, rosary, etc. Learned a lot. Prayed a lot. Kept my mind focused on Lent. I regretted that I didn’t do it last year, and will resume the practice this and every year to come. I’m a news hound, and it’s painful to shut it off – thus it’s perfect penance for me.
 
I am probably going to give up facebook plus do something special I know my husband will appreciate.
 
First Facebook will be a goner for Lent. (Maybe forever!)
Prayer, Mass and devotions for me are not penance, they are a joy. I am lucky enough to be able to attend Mass every day and that has made a huge difference in my life. Funny enough, going to confession is penance for me, just thinking about it, waiting for the priest to come to church, my stomach gets to churning. Once in there, though, I am fine.
Giving up music will be the toughest thing for me, maybe I will stick to religious music.
But do something positive for yourself and others.
 
My parochial vicar told us that our Lenten regimen should have three components:

Prayer
Fasting
Almsgiving

Prayer can certainly include going to daily Mass (if you don’t already do so), recitation of the Rosary, Adoration or meditation. Fasting does not necessarily mean not eating. You can fast from shopping, watching TV, going to the movies, facebook, or some other favorite activity. Almsgiving entails giving to the poor or the homeless person that you see on the street.
 
My Priest gave me some suggestions;
  1. Daily Mass
  2. LOTH Liturgy of the Hours
  3. Rosary a day
  4. Pray for someone who persecutes you. ( Someone you don’t agree with )
  5. Volunteer for something. Anything. To help someone anyone and not expect a return.
  6. Before you go out to Outback Steakhouse or Red Lobster etc.
    Go home cook dinner as cheap as possible and donate what you would have spent to a food kitchen.

    I have added 6 this year. Over the past two three years 1-4 have become habit. I never went to daily mass before in my life except when I was in grade school. And now if I have to work early I feel as though my day is caput. Yes, it makes that much a difference. Try it you’ll like.🙂
 
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