What are you giving up or doing for Lent?

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Great Thread!
Was thinking about Lent and what we would do as a Family.
Great Ideas here…
Our parish has Pancake Dinner on Shrove Tuesday.
Will have to see what DS’s school has planned, being that this is his 1st year in Catholic school. In the past we have gone for SOTC on Friday night.
Keep the ideas coming…
 
DH and I are planning a credit card “fast” during lent.
I plan on going to confession more often-weekly- instead of (ahem) not so often:(
 
Enlighten me, what does SOTC stand for? I can usually guess about these sorts of things, but I have a devil of a cold right now, and I’m all doped up on cold meds…
 
BeeSweet said:
Enlighten me, what does SOTC stand for? I can usually guess about these sorts of things, but I have a devil of a cold right now, and I’m all doped up on cold meds…
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Stations of the cross.

I’ll be doing that on Fridays after our parish lenten meal. This year I want to try and keep my mind on how fortunate I am to live in this country, eat every day and have my freedom. I thought I might prepare a very simple ethnic meal once per week to remember those who don’t have as much. I dunno, just a thought.
 
apricot_yogurt said:
DH and I are planning a credit card “fast” during lent.
I plan on going to confession more often-weekly- instead of (ahem) not so often:(
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Ooohh, good ones! 👍

One year we ate bread and water during the day and ramen noodles for dinner on Fridays–taking the meatless Fridays a step further since we do that year-round anyway.
 
LovingHim said:
Here’s something I’ve always wondered. What was mardi gras originally, and why is it the way it is now (pretty much pagan)? Can someone give me an unbiased explanation? Thanks! 🙂 As for me, personally, I still have yet to take down my Christmas tree. It’s just too pretty. 😊
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The history of Mardi Gras began long before Europeans set foot in the New World. In mid February the ancient Romans celebrated the Lupercalia, a circus like festival not entirely unlike the Mardi Gras we are familiar with today. When Rome embraced Christianity, the early Church fathers decided it was better to incorporate certain aspects of pagan rituals into the new faith rather than attempt to abolish them altogether. Carnival became a period of abandon and merriment that preceded the penance of Lent, thus giving a Christian interpretation to the ancient custom.

Mardi Gras came to America in 1699 with the French explorer Iberville. Mardi Gras had been celebrated in Paris since the Middle Ages, where it was a major holiday. Iberville sailed into the Gulf of Mexico, from where he launched an expedition up the Mississippi River. On March 3 of 1699, Iberville had set up a camp on the west bank of the river about 60 miles south of where New Orleans is today. This was the day Mardi Gras was being celebrated in France. In honor of this important day, Iberville named the site Point du Mardi Gras.

DH & I are giving up eating out!! Actually we have already started it, so guess that is more our New Years Resolution. We are also following the (OK, I don’t know what it is called) “Catholic Diet”. Basically, they suggest more fasting and smaller portions. I recieved something a few years back of the exact suggestions, they are at home on the frig right now, so forgive me for forgetting them.
 
I have no idea what we are doing for Lent. Great ideas have been posted here though.
 
For my family it is always hard because my mom picks and boy does she love lent!😦
She usually makes us give up:
TV, Computers except for school or work, music, sweets, snacks, anything extra, we cannot even read books unless they are religious in nature.
My dad always gives up alchohol and sometimes drinks tea instead of coffee, but he loves to eat ice cream during lent. In fact it is the only time of year that he does eat ice cream. He only eats it when we are all around and he makes sure to exclaim about how good it is after each bite.
My mom cannot give up most of the things we kids give up because she never does any of them. It is like pulling teeth to get her to watch a movie. So she gives up chocolate and alchohol and drinks tea with my dad.

Just in case you all didn’t know Sunday is a day off of Lent. You are supposed to eat or indulge in what you have given up on Sundays because you are preparing for Easter and you are supposed to remind yourself each Sunday that Easter was on Sunday and that Easter is coming. Now if you gave up being mean that does not mean to be mean:mad: 😉

During lent my dad usually reads a book out loud at night such as Greek myths or Chronicles of Narnia or Little Britches. We are now rereading all the old books that my dad read the older kids when we were little and now he is reading the younger kids. (There are six of us so the older three girls and the younger three (2b 1g) are often separated into older and younger:shrug: )

We also try to go to stations, but if we cannot make it we just say it at home. We always give up meat on Fridays, but during lent my dad spends more money on Fish instead of pizza or some other non-fish dinner. This way my dad is giving up some of his money for lent. We also say the Divine Mercy Chaplet during the octave before and after Easter with the specified intentions.
Lucky for us kids my dad says that Saturday nights after sundown we can drop our lenten fast so during Lent that is movie night.🙂
Does anyone have kids who watch the Avatar or do you like the show Numb3rs? Well both of these are on Friday nights and boy is it hard for fans to wait 24 hours to watch their favorite show!

We never do anything on Madi Gras (sp?) My mom says it is pagan and we have never seen the point. Besides, making a huge dinner for kids isn’t practical. They want to eat during the day because they are hungary so, by the time the big dinner is ready they have had so many snacks they aren’t really that hungary. Just my experience.🤷
 
Wow, Margarite! Sounds like your family goes all out for Lent! Reminds me of my family growing up. Mom would hide all the candy away and refuse to buy any during Lent–whether we kids gave it up or not! So we usually just went ahead and gave it up since it was better than gasp spending our own money to buy candy and we were expected to give up something, might as well be that. 😃
 
We’ve never done much for Lent, except turn off the TV. I’m thinking I might use the computer/nintendo less also.

We usually end up going to the library more, and putting puzzles together, and doing crafts. It’s nice!
 
Teakafrog said:
The actual origins of Fat Tuesday itself are very logical. In the old days, and even now in the Orthodox faith (so I’ve been told), the Lenten fast was MUCH stricter. They could not eat any meat, oil, or dairy for ALL of Lent. So the day before Lent began, they made pancakes to use up all the oil and dairy to get it out of the house and so it wouldn’t go bad.
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You are correct. I can’t say for certain about the oil or dairy (but it’s quite possible), but I have an Orthodox friend who has told me that they must avoid meat for the entirety of Lent (which actually starts on a Monday, so Mardi Gras is out).

And speaking of Mardi Gras, you may know it by the name Carnival, which comes from two Latin words meaning, basically, to avoid meat.

Sam, the Neon Orange Knight
 
Daisy suggested we all give up spinach, eggplant, and other foods she doesn’t like.

We are opening the swear jar, although with the girls’ situation stabilized, it seems DH and I don’t swear as much. I am sure we can expand that to coming down too hard on each other, picking fights (girls), etc.

The girls only get one hour of TV a day, so that’s out. SIDE BAR: Daisy has discovered these really neat TV shows on TV Land and a local station. They somehow take the color out of the show, leaving only gray, sort of brown, and black. One show has a man who has a dog and a hat, who shoots the water and black stuff comes out, then he moves to a really neat house in California. His house is run by an old lady, and he has a crazy nephew. She is willing to give up Hannah Montana and cartoons to watch this.

Potato chips and ice cream will not creep into the house. The girls are talking about giving up cold cereal in favor of oatmeal, and not instantin a package.

We might be able to make our pilgramage to St. Peter’s in the Loop for confession, instead of relying on our pastor, give him a break.

I thought about “going eastern” this Lent on my own. To see what that entails, look here.
 
Well Ash Wednesday is only six days away. So what is everyone going to give up for Lent?

As for me I’m giving up soda again.
 
I am giving up pop as well.

Yeah, pop. That is what we call it here in Wisconsin!🙂
 
Smoking.

I’m SO nervous about it, but it’s nothing compared to what Jesus went though.
 
danielsisk619 said:
Well Ash Wednesday is only six days away. So what is everyone going to give up for Lent?

As for me I’m giving up soda again.
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Rather then just fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, I will do the traditional 40 day Lenten fast. I am age 63, but have received permision to do so from both my Physician (very important) and my Spiritual Director.
 
I just received my first copy of Magnificat and I am going to use it every day, and hopefully get into the habit all year long. I need more structure in my prayer life. I also plan to go to Adoration in our parish every Friday.
 
(maybe a little risque, but here goes…)

Every year, I’d give up chocolate. And every year, like clockwork, secretaries at work would offer me chocolate. It didn’t happen at Christmas or any other time; just during Lent. Day after day. So last year, I decided to do something different. Last year, I gave up sex. It worked like a charm.

Not one person offered me chocolate.

Seriously, this year I’m going to see if I can give up meat except for Sundays and Wednesdays.
 
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