Lent / Easter News
The Sacred Triduum: Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter. The Mystery of Faith
By • Catholic Online • 3/31/2010
"Beginning with the Easter Triduum as its source of light, the new age of the Resurrection fills the whole liturgical year with its brilliance. Gradually, on either side of this source, the year is transfigured by the liturgy" (Catechism of the Catholic Church) . CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) – ...
Holy Thursday: Pray for Priests
By • Catholic Online • 3/31/2010
Holy Thursday reminds us that we possess an immense treasure. Without the priesthood there is no Eucharist. So, is it any wonder that there is such a frontal attack on the Catholic priesthood today? CORPUS CHRISTI, TX. (CATHOLIC ONLINE) - Holy Thursday reminds us that we possess an ...
Archbishop Dolan: 'The Father of Our Family, Il Papa, Needs our Love, Support, and Prayers.'
By • Catholic Online • 3/30/2010
Archbishop Dolan compared the current situation facing Pope Benedict XVI to the" "unjust accusations, shouts of the mob, and scourging at the pillar" which we commemorate this Holy Week. NEW YORK, NY (Catholic Online) – Archbishop Timothy Dolan loves the Lord and the Church with an ...
Sorrowful Mystery: The Carrying of the Cross
By • Catholic Online • 3/30/2010
'Keep walking,' Jesus says to me. 'I will carry you when you are weak. I will never leave you. I have been to hell and back for you.' CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - Jennifer Hartline continues her series on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary: 4th ...
Sorrowful Mystery: The Crowning with Thorns
By • Catholic Online • 3/30/2010
Let this mystery teach us to accept mockery and scorn for being disciples of Jesus. CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) - 3rd Sorrowful Mystery: The Crowning with Thorns "They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, "Hail, ...
Sorrowful Mystery: The Scourging at the Pillar
By • Catholic Online • 3/30/2010
Every agonizing moment of pain he endured was to secure my peace. His punishment, my freedom.My impurities are not beaten out of me; they were beaten out of Him. CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) - Jennifer Hartline continues her series of reflections on the Sorrowful Mysteries: 2nd Sorrowful ...
Young Catholics and Moral Relativism
By • Zenit News Agency • 3/29/2010
Overcoming the allure of relativism with a message of truth has been a consistent project of Pope Benedict. NEW HAVEN, CT. (Zenit.org) - Twenty-five years ago, Pope John Paul II inaugurated the celebration of World Youth Day -- to be celebrated on Palm Sunday each year. He understood -- as ...
The 5th Sorrowful Mystery: The Crucifixion
By • Catholic Online • 3/29/2010
This Sorrowful pilgrimage now brings me here to this lonely hill. Help me, Lord... I really don't want to die. WASHINGTON, D.C.(Catholic Online) - The 5th Sorrowful Mystery: The Crucifixion"When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals ...
Palm Sunday: Coming Face to Face with Jesus
By • Catholic Online • 3/29/2010
When we encounter Jesus and the Gospel, we immediately sense that we are dealing with something that is not of this world. CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (CATHOLIC ONLINE) - When we encounter Jesus and the Gospel, we immediately sense that we are dealing with something that is not of this world. ...
Lenten Reflection: Fifth Station of the Cross: Re-visiting Our Role on Calvary
By • Catholic Online • 3/29/2010
'I'll show you what will happen to the wood...Stay with Me, all the way to the end'. DETROIT, MI (Catholic Online) - Abortion places a heavy load on our society. The damage that´s done to it by an economy that deals in death makes everyone thirst for justice. We watch as our nation's lifeblood is ...
More Easter / Lent
'So it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead' - Luke 24:46
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption. continue reading
Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four canonical Gospels. (Mark 11:1.11, Matthew 21:1.11, Luke 19:28.44, and John 12:12.19) ... continue reading
On Palm Sunday, we celebrate the first joy of the season, as we celebrate Our Lord's triumphant entrance into Jerusalem where he was welcomed by crowds worshiping him and laying down palm leaves before him. It also marks the beginning of Holy Week... continue reading
HOLY THURSDAY is the most complex and profound of all religious observances. It celebrates his last supper with the disciples, a celebration of Passover ... continue reading
On Good Friday, each member of the Church tries to understand at what cost Christ has won our redemption. In the solemn ceremonies of Holy Week we unite ourselves to our Savior, and we contemplate our own death to sin in the Death of our Lord ... continue reading
Easter is the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year. Leo I (Sermo xlvii in Exodum) calls it the greatest feast (festum festorum), and says that Christmas is celebrated only in preparation for Easter. It is the centre of the greater part of the ecclesiastical year ... continue reading
Explore Easter, Lent & Pentecost Season
For most people the easiest practice to consistently fulfill will be the traditional one, to abstain from meat on all Fridays of the year. During Lent abstinence from meat on Fridays is obligatory in the United States as elsewhere. Christ Himself said that His disciples would fast once He had departed (Lk. 5:35). continue reading
Everything answered from when does lent end, ashes, giving something up, stations of the cross and blessed palms. The key to understanding the meaning of Lent is simple: Baptism... continue reading
Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours (or Passion) of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. First Station: Jesus is condemned to death... pray the stations now
What did you give up for Lent?
From the humorous to the bizarre, people have had interesting Lenten experiences. Tell us about what you are going to give up for this Lenten Year.
What others gave up »
Lent / Easter News
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The Power of the Resurrection in our Lives: Christ Is Risen; Indeed, He Is Risen!
F. K. Bartels - Catholic Online, 4/6/2013There is great cause for belief in the Resurrection. One of the most wonderful tenets of Catholicism and the true Christian religion the Church transmits, is that the Resurrection is a historical ...Continue Reading
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What a Day! What a Way, the Easter Way, Alleluia!
Deacon Keith Fournier - Catholic Online, 4/1/2013Have you have heard the old adage, used often in a disparaging way, He´s so heavenly he is no earthly good. I suggest again that it misses the mark completely. We are Easter people. We are called to ...Continue Reading
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The Surprise of Easter
Fr. Randy Sly - Catholic Online, 3/31/2013To make sure that all mankind knows that it is not over but actually just beginning, God has an Easter bombshell. While we may have been able to anticipate the wondrous joy of a day of resurrection, ...Continue Reading
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Easter Vigil Homily of Pope Francis: Let the Risen Jesus Enter Your Life
Pope Francis - Catholic Online, 3/31/2013Our daily problems and worries can wrap us up in ourselves, in sadness and bitterness... and that is where death is. That is not the place to look for the One who is alive! Let the risen Jesus enter ...Continue Reading
Good Friday
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On Good Friday, the entire Church fixes her gaze on the Cross at Calvary. Each member of the Church tries to understand at what cost Christ has won our redemption.
The Cross
In the symbol of the Cross we can see the magnitude of the human tragedy, the ravages of original sin, and the infinite love of God. Learn More
Ash Wednesday
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Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption.
The Ashes
The ashes are made from the blessed palms used in the Palm Sunday celebration of the previous year. The ashes are christened with Holy Water and are scented by exposure to incense. Learn More
Stations of the Cross
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Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours (or Passion) of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion.
Opening Prayer
ACT OF CONTRITION. O my God, my Redeemer, behold me here at Thy feet. From the bottom of my heart... Pray the Stations
Fasting & Abstinence
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'Christ Himself said that His disciples would fast once He had departed' Lk. 5:35
Abstinence. The law of abstinence requires a Catholic 14 years of age until death to abstain from eating meat on Fridays in honor of the Passion of Jesus on Good Friday. Salt and freshwater species of fish, amphibians, reptiles and shellfish are permitted.
Fasting. The law of fasting requires a Catholic from the 18th Birthday (Canon 97) to the 59th Birthday (i.e. the beginning of the 60th year, a year which will be completed on the 60th birthday) to reduce the amount of food eaten from normal. The Church defines this as one meal a day, and two smaller meals which if added together would not exceed the main meal.
Learn More »
