It is Holy Thursday, which is technically the end of Lent & the beginning of the shortest liturgical season: Triduum. This is literally the three days to Easter, from sundown of Holy Thursday to sundown of Holy Saturday (the Easter Vigil). If you have never been to an Easter Vigil mass I highly recommend it! It’s long but captivatingly beautiful, even known Catholics I have brought agree.
If you want to check out my previous Lenten check in: CLICK HERE.
P.S. event though this is the “end” of Lent, Catholics keep the “spirit” of their Lenten promises until Easter. And besides, Good Friday is a mandatory abstinence from meat and fasting (for non pregnant ladies) and Holy Saturday is usually a day of voluntary mortifications.
P.P.S. at 4pm today I get my second COVID shot!!!!! Beyond relieved at being able to have this chance. 🙂
This catholic blog I follow, Catholic All Year, started liturgical boxes for Lent this year. These boxes have been absolutely worth the price ($64.99 billed every 3 weeks + $5 shipping for each seasonal box). At this point I have received the Lent, Triduum & Easter season boxes.
*Note: this is not a sponsored post & I get zero kick back from Kendra Tierney. I am definitely not that cool of a groupie.
The latest box is for the Easter season; for Catholics Easter is a 50 day season leading up to Pentecost. Don’t worry if you didn’t know that , I didn’t either growing up. The Easter season box includes:
- Paschal Candle
- Mary Magdalene Pendant
- “He is Risen” Bunting (I had to google what bunting was…)
- DIY grow your own Easter Grass
- Wooden Eggs & Wraps
- Easter Napkins
- Stand for the Alleluia Sign from the Lent Box
- Water balloons for the Polish “Wet Monday” (the Monday after Easter)
- Divine Mercy Print Magnet
- Recipe Card for Bangers & mash for the Feast of St. George
- Recipe Card for Ladyfinger Ice Cream Cake for the Feast of St. Catherine of Siena
- Kit to make a May Crown for the Blessed Virgin Mary
How I did this Lent:
- I did not miss mass a single Sunday (I know, not a grand achievement for a Catholic) & I am also still using my Every Sacred Sunday Journal to get the most out of it. I did want to make it to mass for the Solemnity of St. Joseph but with being in the hospital 2 days of spring break right before this, it set me off and I chose to stay home instead.
- Making Roman Egg Drop Soup for Good Friday lunch. *Note: Pregnant & breastfeeding women are NOT to fast but we are still expected to cut down on the “extras” on these two days and abstain from meat (as we have to every Friday of Lent).
- Ridding the house of sweets: the only times I broke this was while in the hospital because I needed some joy in my life. But this was the first year we set aside Sundays & Solemnities (St. Joseph on March 19 & Annunciation on March 25) for dessert. I really liked this tradition, however I feel if we are going to eat dessert on these days we should live out the piety part more. Still working on that.
- Giving up something: I loved my social media fast, honestly it didn’t feel like a fast but a reset. I am going to bring Facebook & Instagram back on my phone but with a few changes: take off notifications for them, do not put them on a prominent place on my homescreen, and keep watching my intake on mindless social media. Social media is not bad in itself, but a lot about the platform encourages stupidity to flourish.
- Doing something good: Midway through Lent I donated to provide an ultrasound machine for a pregnancy center that serves low income women without insurance, I also gave a gift to a friend for Uber eats who just had a baby, and to finish out Lent I donated to another pregnancy center for low-income/uninsured women.
- Adding a daily prayer: thanks to the “Pray More Novenas” podcast I was successful in saying the novena to St. Joseph in the 9 days leading up to his Solemnity but that was all I did this year.
- Meatless Fridays: even though the Solemnity of St. Joseph fell on a Friday, which means Catholics *can* eat meat on that day, I choose not to break meatless Fridays on this day. I decided that if I didn’t make it to daily mass that day (the “fast”) I wasn’t going to “feast” on meat. I’m all for balance and I don’t think it’s fair to just take the “feasting” without the “fasting.”
- Stations of the Cross on Fridays: I was doing good-ish with this, using the USCCB podcast to pray the stations in the car on the way to work on Fridays but I totally forgot over spring break. I also forgot what day of the week it was though.
JMF
