For he saith: In an accepted time have I heard thee; and in the day of salvation have I helped thee. Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Cor 6:2)Now, indeed. From last week's rather fretful personal reflections on Time, let us consider Liturgical Time (or, rather, Lent specifically). Of course, Lent begins this Wednesday, a season of penance and of preparation for Easter.
In prayer and recollection, take time now to prepare to prepare[1] for the Easter Triduum.
How will you make a good Lent?
Here are some timely resources to help you get started:
- “Lent is Coming” worksheet. New—via RSS feed from R-C this morning.
- Lenten resources from USCCB. Newly updated for 2014.
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Andrea Mantegna c. 1460, Agony in the Garden |
“In quibus diebus quadragesimae accipiant omnes singulos codices de bibliotheca, quos per ordinemex integro legant; qui codices in caput quadragesimae dandi sunt.” – Chapter 48 of the Rule of St. Benedict[2]Which one book will you read from beginning to end this Lent? Please share suggestions in the comments. For instance,
- The Way of the Cross, Caryll Houselander
- Calvary and the Mass, Ven. Abp. Fulton J. Sheen
- The Foot of the Cross, Fr. Frederick Faber
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[1] Yes, I happen to have a penchant for meta-preparation, project planning, list-making, contingency planning, and another round of list-making. It may be that this
[2] The “Father of Western Monasticism” knows a thing or two about keeping Lent. I’ll quote another sentence of his next week. Maybe even with an English translation instead of yet another link.
Thanks for the Lent suggestions. For my Lenten reading, I'm working on The Fulfillment of All Desire by Ralph Martin. If I finish that, I have a couple classic works of spirituality saved up on my Kindle (e.g. The Way of Perfection by Teresa of Ávila). One of the Capuchin novices mentioned that he will be reading Balthasar's Mysterium Paschale, which I thought was an interesting choice.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I'm hoping others will post their reading over the course of the season, so we can learn from each other (and add even more to those ever-lengthening Lists of Books To Read).
ReplyDeleteMore on that later--also on Kindle. My Kindle has been idle for nearly a year; I'd already resolved to either get in the habit of using it well or to pass it along before Easter. (So far, I only do spiritual reading on dead tree fibers, and only at home at the very beginning and/or very end of the day--i.e., when I'm most tired. Certainly room for improvement there.)
Who is the patron saint of Kindles/e-readers? [or perhaps it is the Holy Spirit Himself: "Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and Kindle in them the fire of your love"]
St. Augustine is the patron of sore eyes. Perhaps he could also patronize e-readers.
ReplyDelete