From unify!news@uunet.uu.net Wed Feb 26 13:54:08 1992 Received: from relay2.UU.NET by aramis.rutgers.edu (5.59/SMI4.0/RU1.4/3.08) id AA15034; Wed, 26 Feb 92 13:54:08 EST Received: from rodan.UU.NET by relay2.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-internet-primary) id AA06891; Wed, 26 Feb 92 13:53:55 -0500 Received: from relay1.UU.NET by rodan.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-mail-drop) id AA05880; Wed, 26 Feb 92 13:53:37 -0500 Received: from uunet.uu.net (via LOCALHOST.UU.NET) by relay1.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-internet-primary) id AA00196; Wed, 26 Feb 92 13:53:26 -0500 Received: from unify.UUCP by uunet.uu.net with UUCP/RMAIL (queueing-rmail) id 135026.90; Wed, 26 Feb 1992 13:50:26 EST Received: by unify.com (5.61/smail2.5/06-13-89/jwc.2) id AA05204; Wed, 26 Feb 92 10:48:06 -0800 Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Path: dbrus!ceb From: ceb@dbrus.unify.com (Caroline E. Bryan) Subject: Re: Lent Message-Id: <8brkla7@Unify.Com> Sender: news@unify.com (news admin) Organization: /usr/lib/news/organization References: Date: Wed, 26 Feb 92 18:47:50 GMT Apparently-To: soc-religion-christian@uunet.UU.Net To: soc-religion-christian@uunet.uu.net In article judy@locus.com (Judy Leedom Tyrer) writes: >As the lenten season approaches I would like to know more about the traditional >ways in which lent is observed. If there is a FAQ on this, would you please >send it to me. This is what I've seen at RC churches. Before Ash Wednesday, the priest reminds us that Lent's coming up. The parish might have a Mardi Gras party the weekend before. We all "prepare to prepare": i.e., decide what all we'll be doing during Lent. Lent is a time of self-examination and preparation to meet Our Lord, like Advent but a bit more solemn. It's kicked off on Ash Wednesday, which has special services and/or additions to the daily mass in which we are adjured to examine our lives and remember our relative importance in the world: "from ashes you were created, and to ashes you will return" and all that. In the RCC Ash Wednesday is also a day of abstention (eating no meat) and fasting (eating less of everything else -- the Catholics are a tad wimpish when it comes to fasting). Also on Ash Wednesday we begin with our Lenten sacrifice. The ashes by which we are marked during the service come from burning the palm leaves from Palm Sunday the year before. In some places it is tradi- tional to wear the ashen cross for the rest of the day, so you may see some people at work with smudges on their foreheads. "What are you giving up for Lent?" refers to the Lent sacrifice. We don't give up something we shouldn't be doing anyway ("I'll refrain from drinking and driving" is *not* a good Lent sacrifice), but a pleasure, something good. For instance, if you buy or pick flowers to cheer up the house on a regular basis, you can give them up for Lent; or the standard, giving up chocolate; or substituting a fruit you don't care for so much for your daily apple; or not watching your favorite TV program; or not reading your daily chunk of science fiction; or not having your preprandial sherry; and so on. The idea is that you miss the thing you give up, and missing it, you reflect on what you are also missing in not being completely at one with Christ. One church I went to, the priest urged that in addition to making a sacrifice, we also *add* something to our daily routine for Lent. For instance, saying the Rosary daily, going to mass daily, remembering to say morning or evening prayers or saying grace before *all* meals; or doing the Stations of the Cross every week during Lent; or helping out at a dinner for the homeless; or volunteering at a local hospital; and so on. Every Friday is a day of abstention; i.e., no meat. This has less impact now that most people don't eat meat every day anyway, so in addition to cutting out the steak, some people might want to cut out some other standard part of their meal, such as dessert. Some people go on day-long or weekend retreats during Lent. Catechumens are on the last stage of their entry into the church, and the people who are close to them pay special attention to them during Lent, because it is at this season that the catechumens have to make their decision whether or not to join the Church, and we who love them want to make sure that if they feel ready, they are not hesitant; and if they don't feel ready, that they also do not hesitate to decline to enter. So catechumens and sponsors spend more time together discussing religion. This year my church has a day-long re- treat for catechumens and sponsors during Lent. Some people do Stations of the Cross. In a Catholic church there are 14 plaques or paintings along the walls, each one illustrating part of Christ's journey to His death, starting with Pilate condemning Him to death and ending with His burial. To "do" the Stations of the Cross, you pray, then, starting at the first station, reflect on the episode illustrated and then pray and/or sing an appropriate hymn. Then you go to the next station. The church it- self will hold one or more communal Stations of the Cross, and they use out little booklets with prayers and hymns printed in them for each station. (Some churches recently have started ending up the Stations with a 15th sta- tion, at the altar, celebrating His resurrection, but personally I feel that this 15th station is inappropriate during Lent.) Many RC churches (all?) have penance services, too. Pre-Vatican II, the RCC required all Catholics to go to confession during the Lent/Easter season, and the Lenten penance service is a hangover from that. The people pray and sing penitential hymns, and a speaker, often a monastical or missionary guest, gives a sermon on repentance and forgiveness. Then the people reflect on their lives and the state of their souls. Finally, a multitude of confessors sit in chairs dotted around the walls of the church, and the people line up to confess and be forgiven. Often people stay afterwards, some to execute their penances, some to thank God for the love that He has for them. (They also have penance services during Advent.) Lent ends the day before Holy Thursday, but as the last days before Easter are really an intensification of the Lenten spirit, I add them. On Holy Thursday (the day before Good Friday), during the mass the priest consecrates enough hosts to carry the parish through until Sunday. After the mass the church is stripped of all decorations (altar cloths, candles, etc.), the consecrated hosts are removed from the church (the only time in the year that the Lord is not present in the building), and the crucifix is draped with a black or purple cloth. Good Friday is the only day in the year that the RCC does not have any masses. There are prayer services during which hosts consecrated the day before are distributed. Often the church will hold a communal Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. In very Catholic towns, banks close from noon to 3 PM, and other businesses let their employees take the same time off, so that everyone can go to the Good Friday service and Stations of the Cross. Some people (like me, this year) take the entire day off work to concentrate on the more important event. As you might imagine, services are subdued. Good Friday is, like Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting and abstention. The crucifix is replaced by a plain cross, which is placed so that people may touch or kiss it during prayer. I apologize for the length, but hope that some of this was what you were looking for. Carrie ceb@dbrus.unify.com x6244 ---------------------+ | "Creativity in programming is to find deep simplicities in a complex | | process." - Harlan Mills | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+