Lent / Easter News
Remember You are Dust
By • Catholic Online • 2/6/2012
"Memento, homo ... quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris" (cf. Gn 3:19). "Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you will return." ROME (Catholic Online) - This homily was preached by the late Servant of God John Paul II during the Ash Wednesday Liturgy in Rome on February 21,1996. May his ...
St. Ambrose: Hold fast to God, the one true good
By • Catholic Online • 2/3/2012
Let us live in Christ, let us ascend in Christ, so that the serpent may not have the power here below to wound us in the heel. CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - From the treatise on Flight from the World by Saint Ambrose, bishop, Hold fast to God, the one true good. Where a man’s heart is, ...
St. Aelred: 'Christ, Model of brotherly love'
By • Catholic Online • 2/2/2012
If he wishes to prevent this fire of divine love from growing cold because of injuries received, let him keep the eyes of his soul always fixed on the serene patience of his beloved Lord and Saviour. CHESAPEAKE, Va. Catholic Online) - Aelred was born in 1109 at Durham. After a quality education he ...
The Happy Priest on Getting Ready for Lent
By • Catholic Online • 1/31/2012
Lent provides us an opportunity to open our personal maintenance schedule and take a close look at ourselves as we journey towards eternal life. CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - Every car or truck carries in the glove compartment a maintenance schedule. Having your oil changed, your tires ...
Fourteen Questions on the Paschal Triduum
Catholic Online • 1/30/2012
Each year, the Secretariat for Divine Worship receives numerous calls concerning preparations for the celebration of the Paschal Triduum. The following eighteen questions address the most commonly received questions and may be freely reproduced by Diocesan Offices for Worship, Parish Liturgy ...
What are YOU doing for Lent?
By • Catholic Online • 1/24/2012
Lent is almost here prompting the question, "What are you giving up for lent?" This is a tough question for me. I'm a lay person, but working for Catholic Online, I get the question early. I also take the season seriously, so I want to make a thoughtful decision that is both realistic and that ...
Pope's Easter Vigil Homily: We Celebrate the First Day of the New Creation
By • Catholic Online • 4/25/2011
'The first day of the week was the third day after Jesus' death. It was the day when he showed himself to his disciples as the Risen Lord. In truth, this encounter had something unsettling about it. The world had changed. This man who had died was now living with a life that was no longer ...
Easter: We Have Been Raised with Christ. Easter is More Than a Day; it is a Way
By • Catholic Online • 4/25/2011
Easter is more than a Day, it is a Way; A Way of living our lives differently now in Him. We are invited to do that by living them in His Church, which is His Body, for the sake of the world. That world created through Him out of love was lost due to sin. He came among us and began creation ...
Wisdom from a Monk: Fr. Gregory on the Fullness of the Paschal Mystery
By • Catholic Online • 4/25/2011
If we celebrate this Easter Triduum with the gravity it deserves, we may find ourselves suspended in time. We discover ourselves in real time alongside Jesus in the Agony at the Garden, or witnessing His brutal scourging by the Roman soldiers, or perhaps next to the women of Jerusalem who ...
Holy Saturday: Stand in the Silence, Count the Hours until the New Fire
By • Catholic Online • 4/25/2011
For some, Holy Saturday may seem like a stark barrier between the awesomeness of Good Friday and the Glory of Easter. There is something to be said for silence as the Church waits. standing still. until the Vigil when the New Fire is kindled in the Service of Light. WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) - ...
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 »
