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Wednesday, February 22, 2023 - Thursday, April 6, 2023
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Lent Site Navigation
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Divine Mercy Novena
We begin the Novena to Divine Mercy Sunday on Good Friday, April 7th up to Divine Mercy Sunday on April 16th.
Click here for more information and to find the nine separate prayers. -
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Easter Triduum - Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday
The summit of the Liturgical Year is the Easter Triduum—from the evening of Holy Thursday to the evening of Easter Sunday. Though chronologically three days, they are liturgically one day unfolding for us the unity of Christ's Paschal Mystery.
The single celebration of the Triduum marks the end of the Lenten season, and leads to the Mass of the Resurrection of the Lord at the Easter Vigil.
Learn More Here
Video on Easter Triduum
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Repeated After 10am Mass Every Sunday
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The Transforming Power of Confession.
Watch HERE on Formed.
Sacred Heart has a FREE subscription to Formed.
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What is Lent?
Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms, and we practice self-control through fasting. We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ's will more faithfully. We recall the waters of baptism in which we were also baptized into Christ's death, died to sin and evil, and began new life in Christ.
Many know of the tradition of abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent, but we are also called to practice self-discipline and fast in other ways throughout the season. Contemplate the meaning and origins of the Lenten fasting tradition in this reflection. In addition, the giving of alms is one way to share God's gifts—not only through the distribution of money but through the sharing of our time and talents. As St. John Chrysostom reminds us: "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2446).
In Lent, the baptized are called to renew their baptismal commitment as others prepare to be baptized through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, a period of learning and discernment for individuals who have declared their desire to become Catholics.
Prayer and Video Resources - Click HERE
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Why do we veil the statues?
This ritual is a visual and mental preparation for Christ’s Passion.
As you walked into church for Mass 2 weeks before Easter, you may have noticed something unusual.
Beginning on the Fifth Sunday of Lent, many churches cover their statues, crucifixes, and sacred images—except for the Stations of the Cross—in purple cloth. The veil on the crucifix will remain until Good Friday, at which time it will be removed as part of the liturgy. The other purple cloths remain until the Easter Vigil.
What is the meaning of this somber ritual?
In the older church calen
dar, this Sunday is called Passion Sunday. The week is called Passion Week, and the entire section of Lent including this week and Holy Week—Passiontide.The focus of these two weeks is completely upon the impending Passion of Our Lord. By temporarily depriving us of the consolation of our beautiful images, the veils sharpen our focus and help us to enter more deeply into the sorrow and austerity of this time. Seeing only the Stations of the Cross, we more readily direct our thoughts to the Passion.
The Stations of the Cross are the only images left unveiled during Passiontide (photo: PawełS/CC BY-SA 4.0)
The veils also remind us that Christ hid His divinity in His Passion, becoming the Man of Sorrows, disfigured and beaten for our sins. He is soon going to be taken away from us, veiled in a shroud upon His death and hidden until He rises again on Easter Sunday.
The “hiding” of Christ is emphasized by today’s gospel from the older rite of the Mass. After Jesus said that “before Abraham came to be, I am”—therefore declaring Himself to be God—the Jews tried to stone Him. But the Gospel continues:
“Jesus hid Himself, and went out from the temple.”
—John 8:59You can extend the beautiful tradition of the Passiontide veils into your own home by veiling your crucifixes, statues, and images. Seeing the veils daily can help us enter even more deeply into the spirit which Holy Mother Church inculcates in us at this holy time of year.
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For More Prayer and Video Resources, Click HERE
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