Lent, Holy Week and Easter
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By prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we strive throughout these forty days to be renewed and to be more faithful to our baptismal promises. We also pray in a special way with those preparing to receive the sacraments at the Easter Vigil. Throughout these upcoming forty days, we encourage you to take advantage of the opportunities for prayer, fasting and almsgiving, which this season provides. May God continue to bless all of us as we strive to change our hearts this Lent.
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Prayer
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Holy Week and Easter Schedule
Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion: April 13
Saturday: 5:30 PM
Sunday: 8:00, 9:30, 11:30 AM
Palms will be blessed and distributed at all Masses.
Holy Thursday: April 17
Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper: 7:30 PM
Night Prayer: 11:00 PM
Adoration following Mass until midnight.
Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion: April 18
Church Open: 7AM, Morning Prayer: 9AM
Celebration of the Lord’s Passion: 3:00 PM
Holy Saturday: April 19
Morning Prayer: 9:00 AM
Blessing of Food: 11:00 AM (Social Hall)
Easter Vigil: 8:00 PM
Easter Sunday: April 20
Masses at 8:00, 9:30, 11:30 AM
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Lenten Events and Activities
Celebration of Mass
Daily (Monday - Friday): 7:30 AM
Saturday: 8:30 AM, 5:30 PM Sunday Vigil Mass
Sunday: 8:00, 9:30, 11:30 AM
Sacrament of Reconciliation and Penance
Confessions: Saturdays at 9:00 AM
(Extended confessions on Saturday, April 12)
Wednesdays during Lent: 6:30 PM
Penance Service: Thursday, April 10, 7:00 PM
Stations of the Cross
Fridays: 7:00 PM
Eucharistic Adoration
Mondays: 8:00 AM-8:30 PM
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Fasting
All Catholics fourteen years of age and older are obliged to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and on all the Fridays of Lent. Catholics between the ages of eighteen and fifty-nine are obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The fast means taking only one full meal and, if necessary, two small meals that together would not make a full meal. Nothing is taken to eat between meals. The laws for fast and abstinence do not apply to people who are sick, or those who need to eat at certain times for health reasons (to take medicine, while expecting, etc.). Those who cannot fast are encouraged to do some other act of penance on those days.
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Almsgiving
“In the matter of almsgiving not only the rich and affluent but also those of average means and the poor are able to play their part. Those who are unequal in their capacity to give can be equal in the love within their hearts.” (Saint Leo the Great)
Almsgiving means making sacrifices of our time, our talent, and our financial resources to help those less fortunate than ourselves. While it includes donations of money to Operation Rice Bowl and other charities, it also involves a commitment to help our neighbors both near and far through works of service. Assisting homebound neighbors, visiting a friend in the hospital, and offering prayers for the dead can all be forms of almsgiving.
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Lenten Resources
Formed.org provides resources to help you prepare for and journey through Lent. Visit https://daily.formed.org/lent to explore their content which includes an interactive Lenten calendar.
Dynamic Catholic provides the online video series Best Lent Ever. Visit www.dynamiccatholic.com/lent to sign up for daily reflections via email.
Word on Fire: Sign up for daily email Lent reflections from Bishop Robert Barron at: www.lentreflections.com.
The popular Lenten “Little Black Book” (one per family please) as well as the 2025 Rice Bowls (take as many as you wish) are both available starting today in the Narthex. A quick note – this year marks the 50th Anniversary of Operation Rice Bowl which traces its beginning to a small group of Catholics in Allentown, PA in 1975 who wanted to raise awareness and funds to fight the devastating famine in the Sahel region of Africa.Keeping the Season of Lent and Easter (Liturgical Press) provides print and digital resources for Lent. Electronic copies available here; paper copies are available in church.
Click here to download our Lenten booklet which includes a calendar of events leading up to Easter:
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Keeping the Season of Lent and Easter (Resources from Liturgical Press)
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