"Jesus, I give You my whole heart and my whole will.
They once rebelled against You,
but now I dedicate them completely to You…
Receive me, and make me faithful until death.”
St. Alphonsus Liguori
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ASH WEDNESDAY*
"Give me, good Lord, a full faith and
a fervent charity, a love of You, good Lord,
incomparably above the love of myself;
and that I love nothing that displeases You
but everything for the sake of You.
Take from me, good Lord, this lukewarm --
or rather cold-hearted -- way of meditation and
this dullness in praying to You. And give me
warmth, delight, and life in thinking of You.
And give me grace to long for Your
holy Sacraments, and specifically to rejoice
in the presence of Your Blessed Body, sweet
Savior Christ, in the holy Sacrament of the altar,
and duly to thank You for Your precious
visitation through it; and at that high Memorial,
may I have grace to remember and consider
Your most bitter passion with tender compassion."
St. Thomas More
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*ASH WEDNESDAY is solemnly observed by the Church to mark the beginning of the forty days of penance in the Lenten season. The faithful who attends the Mass on this day will be marked on the forehead with a CROSS of ASHES as a sign of conversion, penance, fasting and human mortality.
Ash Wednesday in Iraq. DoD Photo (Spc Daniel Schneider)
"The ashes create a bond of solidarity between us.
They make it easier for us to help each other choose the
right way, to offer a word of support, an arm to lean on,
when we see each other falter." - Bishop Erik Varden, O.C.S.O.
and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. - Ecclesiastes 4:12
During Lent, we are called to prayer, fasting and almsgiving. They are the "three-fold cord" spoken of in Ecclesiastes 4:12. Satan will not prevail against us if we follow Christ's call to use this three-fold cord as a basis for our Christian walk.
"Act, and God will act. " - St Joan of Arc
Prayer is good when accompanied
by fasting, almsgiving, and righteousness.
A little with righteousness is better than much
with wrongdoing. It is better to give alms
than to treasure up gold. - Tobit 12:8
"God has not grown weary of us. Let us welcome Lent
as the great season in which He reminds us:
"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Ex 20:2).
Lent is a season of conversion, a time of freedom.
Pope Francis (excerpt of 2024 Lenten message)
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Let us pray - one for the other -
for perseverance, fidelity and conversion
in this Lenten season!
in this Lenten season!
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