Below are some books for Lenten reading if you wish to read them.
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| LENT AND HOLY WEEK IN ROME |
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ON DOING GOOD
In doing good let us not fail. For in due time we shall reap, not failing. — Gal. xi. 9. In these words .St. Paul does three things : 1. He warns us that we must do good. For to do good is a duty seeing that all things, by their nature, teach us to do good. (i) They so teach us because they are themselves good. And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good (Gen. i. 31). Sinners have ample cause to make them blush in the multitude of created things all of them good, while sinners themselves are evil. (ii) Because all things, by their nature, do good. For every creature gives itself, and this is a sign of their own goodness and of the goodness of their Creator. Denis says "God is goodness, something which must diffuse itself." St. Augustine says, " It is a great sign of the divine goodness, that every creature is compelled to give itself." (iii) Because all things by their nature desire what is good and tend to the good. The good is, in fact, that for which everything longs. 2. St. Paul warns us, that in doing good we fail not. There are three things which most of all cause a man to persevere in doing good : (i) Assiduous and wholehearted prayer for help from God lest we yield when we are tempted, Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temptation (Matt, xx vi. 41). (ii) Unceasing fearfulness. As soon as a man feels confident he is safe, he begins to fail in doing good, Unless thou hold thyself diligently in the fear of the Lord, thy house shall quickly be overthrown (Ecclus. xxvii. 4). Fear of the Lord is the guardian of Life ; without it speedily indeed and suddenly is the house thrown down, that is to say, a dwelling place that is of this world. (iii) Avoidance of venial sins, for venial sins are the occasion of mortal sin and often undermine the achievement of good works. St. Augustine says, " Thou hast avoided dangers that are great, beware lest thou fall victim to the sand." 3. St. Paul offers a reward that is fitting, is generous and is everlasting. For in due time we shall reap not failing. Fitting : in due time, that is, at a fitting time, at the day of judgment when each shall receive what he has accomplished. So the farmer receives the fruit of his sowing, not immediately but in due time, The husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth ; patiently bearing till he receive the early and the latter rain (James v. 7). Generous: We shall reap ; here it is the copiousness of the reward that is indicated. With the harvest and reaping we associate abundance, He who soweth in blessings, shall also reap blessings (2 Cor. ix. 6). Your reward is very great in heaven (Matt, v. 12) (Sermon for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost). Everlasting : We shall reap, not failing. We ought then to do good not for an hour merely, but always and continually. In doing good let us not fail, that is to say, let us not fail in working, for we shall not fail in reaping. Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly (Eccles. ix. 10). And right it is not to fail in working, for the reward to which we are looking is everlasting and unfailing. Whence St. Augustine says : " If man will set no limit to his labour, God will set no limit to the reward." (In Galatians vi. 9.) Source: Meditations for Lent, Imprimatur 1937 Septuagesima Sunday THE WORK OF THE VINEYARD Going out about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market-place idle. And he said to them : Go you also into my vineyard and I will give you what shall be just. — Matt. xx. 3. In these words we may notice four things : 1. The goodness of the Lord, going out, that is, for his people's salvation. For that Christ should go out to lead men into the vineyard of justice was indeed an act of infinite goodness. Our Lord is five times said to have gone out. He went out in the beginning of the world, as a sower, to sow his creatures, The sower went out to sow his seed. Then in his nativity to enlighten the world, Until her just one come forth as brightness (Isa. Ixii. i). In his Passion to save his own from the power of the devil and from all evil, My just one is near at hand, my saviour is gone forth (Isa. li. 5). He goes out like the father of a family, caring for his children and his goods. The kingdom of heaven is like to an householder who went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard (Matt. xx. i.). Finally he goes out to judgment, to make most strict enquiry after the wicked, like some overseer, to beat down rebels, like some mighty fighter, and, like a judge, to punish as they merit, criminals and malefactors. 2. The foolishness of men. For nothing is more foolish than that in this present life, where men ought so to work that they may live eternally, men should live in idleness. He found them in the market place idle. That market-place is this our present life. For it is in the market-place1 that men quarrel and buy and sell and so the market-place stands for our life of every day, full of affairs, of buying and selling and in which also the prospects of grace and heavenly glory are sold in exchange for good works. These labourers were called idle because they had already let slip a part of their life. And not evil-doers alone are called idle but also those who do not do good. And as the idle never attain their end, so will it be with these. The end of man is life eternal. He therefore who works in the proper way will possess that life if he is not an idler. It is great folly to live in idleness in this life; because from idleness, as from an evil teacher, we learn evil knowledge; because through idleness we come to lose the good that lasts for ever; because through the short idleness of this life we incur a labour that is eternal. 3 . The necessity of working in the vineyard of the Lord. Go you also into my vineyard. The vineyard into which the men are sent to work is the life of goodness, in which there are as many trees as there are virtues. We are to work in this vineyard in five ways : Planting in it good works and virtues ; rooting up and destroying the thorns, that is, our vices; cutting down the superfluous branches, Every branch in me, that beareth fruit, he will purge it, that it may bring jorth more fruit (John xv. 2) ; keeping off the little foxes, that is, the devils ; and guarding it from the thieves, that is, keeping ourselves indifferent to the praise and the blame of mankind. 4. The usefulness of labour. The wage of those who labour in the vineyard is a penny that outvalues thousands of silver crowns. And this is what we are told in Holy Scripture, The peaceable had a vineyard, every man bringeth for the fruit thereof a thousand pieces of silver (Cant. viii. 1 1). The thousand crowns are the thousand joys of eternity, and these are signified by the penny. Sermon for Septuagesima Sunday Source: Meditations for Lent, Imprimatur 1937 With Ash Wednesday fast approaching I thought I would share with you some of our past posts with Lenten printables you may find useful. May you all have a blessed and fruitful Lenten Season!
My Lenten Cross Printable Stations of the Cross and Stabat Mater printing book. Station of the Cross and Stabat Mater handwriting book. Prayer for Everyday of Lent printing practice. Prayer for Everyday of Lent handwriting practice. Stations of the Cross Coloring Book. Ash Wednesday
The past three weeks have suggested reflection on the diseases of our souls, and tended towards a realization of the depths of the wounds sin has inflicted on us; we should now be in some measure prepared for the penance the Church is offering us. For we know, better than we did, God’s justice and holiness, as well as the dangers to which an impenitent soul lies exposed; while to encourage in our own a sincere and lasting amendment, we lay aside the unprofitable joys and idle amusements of the world. The ashes have been scattered on our heads, and we have been humiliated by the sentence of death pronounced over us. In the course of this trial of forty days, which our weakness only finds long, we shall not be deprived of our Savior’s presence. He has preceded and outpaced us on the royal road. He has tried it and accomplished its course before us, in order to answer, by His example, the excuses and arguments our self-indulgence or pride may urge. Let us accept the lesson fully, and so arrive at an understanding of the law of expiation. ‘‘Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is drawing near.” Let us open our heart to this appeal, that the Savior may not be compelled to awake us from our lethargy by the terrible threat He employed on another occasion : “If you do not repent you shall all perish.” ~Dom Gueranger. If you forget your sins God will remember them, but if you remember them He on His side will forget. ~Pere Cestac. PRELUDE
Shrove Tuesday A spiritual writer summarizes man’s primary business —his duty towards his soul, the breath of his creator— in the words, ‘'Remember Me.” He reminds us of the longing desire of all men to be remembered by their friends on earth, and leads us up by this consideration to Christ’s command (since Christ is God as well as man), that we should remember Him. It is the substance of His culminating address, the one before His Passion, the one in which He gave the means to remember Him perfectly. Now as our reception of Christ’s Body and Blood in Holy Communion is to the Masses we hear ; so, by analogy, is Lent—the time of our more complete recollection of His sufferings—to the rest of the year. It is a more perfect way. Let us then, accompany His servants who shall act as guides—pedagogues to lead us, as some member of a great man’s household led his children to school in old Roman days—let us walk daily to school this Lent, to learn more perfectly than we have hitherto done the science of remembrance. Let us hasten and do that now, which may be expedient for us for ever hereafter. ~ St. Benedict. NOTE—The mottoes after some of the readings are designed to serve as a thought for use now and again during the day, as a reminder of the morning’s meditation. ONCE more the solemn season calls
A holy fast to keep, And now within the temple walls Both priest and people meet. But vain all outward sign of grief, And vain the form of prayer, Unless the heart implore relief And penitence be there. We smite the breast, we weep in pain, In vain in ashes mourn, Unless with penitential pain The smitten soul be torn. In sorrow true, then, let us pray- To our offended God From us to turn His wrath away, And stay the uplifted rod. O God ! our Judge and Father, deign To spare the bruised reed ; We pray for time to turn again, For grace to turn indeed. Blest Three in One, to thee we bow; Vouchsafe us in Thy love To gather from these fasts below Immortal fruit above. Amen. - Hymns and Songs for Catholic Children - Who instituted Lent ?
According to the Fathers of the Church, Justin and Irenaeus, the fast before Easter was instituted and sanctified by Christ Himself; according to the saints Leo and Jerome, the holy apostles ordained it after the example given by Jesus. Why has the Church instituted this fast forty days before Easter? To imitate Christ who fasted forty days; to participate in His merits and sufferings; to subject, our flesh by voluntary mortification to the spirit, and to mortify our evil desires as did St. Paul; (Col. i. 24.) to enable us to lead a pure life, and thus prepare for the holy festival of Easter, and the reception of the divine Lamb, Jesus: and, finally, to render God satisfaction for our sins, and do penance, as Pope Gregory says, for the sins of one whole year by one short fast, lasting only the tenth part of a year. Was the fast of Lent observed in early times as in the present? Yes, but more strictly; for the people of the early ages not only abstained from meat, but also from all that which is connected with it, such as eggs, butter, cheese, even from wine and fish, although this was not the general command of the Church; they fasted all day, and only ate in the evening after vespers, in remembrance of which, vespers are now said before dinner-time, because the Church, as a kind mother, now permits the supper to be changed into a dinner, and also allows something to be taken in the evening, that the body may not be too much weakened, and become unfit for labor. How much does this ancient custom put to shame the Christians of today who think the fast in our times too severe! "But," asks St. Ambrose, "what sort of Christians are they? Christ, who never sinned fasted for our sins, and we will not fast for our own great and numerous offences?" How should the holy season of Lent be spent? As according to the teaching of St. Leo, the main thing in fasting is not that the body be deprived of food, but that the mind at the same time be withdrawn from wickedness, we should endeavor during Lent, not only to be temperate in eating and drinking, but especially to lead a modest life, sanctifying the days by persevering prayer and devoutly attending church. PRAYER AT THE BEGINNING OF LENT Almighty God! I unite myself at the beginning of this holy season of penance with the Church militant, endeavoring to make these days of real sorrow for my sins and crucifixion of the sensual man. O Lord Jesus! in union with Thy fasting and passion, I offer Thee my fasting in obedience to the Church, for Thy honor, and in thanksgiving for the many favors I have received, in satisfaction for my sins and the sins of others, and that I may receive the grace to avoid such and such a sin, N. N. and to practice such and such a virtue, N. N. |
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Saint Joseph Patron of the Universal Church 
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