#Lent

[lovechristianity]

[divinum-pacis]

A Catholic nun joins others holding candles while offering prayers for the country and also victims of the recent earthquake in Myanmar, after a religious procession in observance of Lent, in Quezon City, Philippines, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

[janusfranc15]

I mean. On one hand. Big Honor. On the Other: Mandatory, probably didn’t get a choice to refuse, and requires a Lot of Work and Skill they had to pick up. I get your Dad’s perspective.

FFF!!

See, I'm always scared because I know you know a lot of random stuff so I'm worried you'll already know. So I'm going to go with one that I would have done during Lent if I was around Tumblr during Lent this year:

The Pope's Palms.

[The Pillar did a feature about this it's how I learned.]

Every Palm Sunday the Pope and the Cardinals gets these elaborately braided palms for the celebratory Mass (technically, they're called "parmureli"). As you probably know, most Palm Sunday Masses don't get those. They're made in the towns of Sanremo and Bordighera in Liguria (that's a part of Italy). There's a story behind that!

So if you've ever been to or seen images of Saint Peter's Square in Vatican City, you'll notice that there's an obelisk there. It was moved from the Circus of Nero in 1586, and it required a massive project to move it and place it where it is today. Because of all the work involved, and how difficult placing it was, and because he wanted the people to work in peace--or maybe he was just throwing his power around, I don't know--Pope Sixtus V ordered that no one speak while the thing was going up, or else they'd be executed.

Yeah.

There came a point, however, when the ropes holding the obelisk up were about to break, and someone was about to get hurt. A man present, a captain and a sailor named Benedetto Bresca, saw it and called out to have the lines strengthened. They did, the obelisk was put up without a hitch. Because his outburst saved lives, Pope Sixtus declared that now he wouldn't be punished and instead, made him and his descendants the people who give palms to the Vatican for Palm Sunday. Which they do to this very day!

For the record: my dad, when I told this story, didn't really see this as much of a reward.

[jesus-son-of-man]

For Lent I will be giving up

[theonion]

[psalms-and-spells]

God Bless the Palestinian Muslims who are celebrating Ramadan. God Bless the Palestinian Christians who are celebrating Lent. God Bless the Palestinian Jewish people who are celebrating Passover.

I hope God makes this time of fasting easier on them and that they get closer to God. I pray that someday God will grant them rest and safety.

[seraphim-eternal]

Now I have known in part; then I shall know fully, as I have been fully known.

1 Corinthians 13:12

[proseandpsalms]

It is far more fulfilling to think of Jesus dying on the cross as an act of solidarity, rather than one of sacrifice.

In this essay, I will...

[many-sparrows]

[thewordfortheday]

Jesus said, "It is finished." John 19:30

When Jesus lifted up His voice and said, " It is finished," He did not mean His life was ebbing away or God's plan had been foiled. Though death was near, Jesus realized the last obstacle had been hurdled and the last enemy destroyed. He had successfully and triumphantly completed the task of redemption. With the words, "It is finished," He announced that Heaven's door was open. Kingdoms and empires come and go, but the cross and all it stands for will always remain towering over the wrecks of time!

Billy Graham

[joanofarcs-stigmata]

im giving up wishing suffering upon others for lent. im giving up wishing cruelty on politicians and bigots. i am praying for my enemies for lent. i do not have to excuse their actions or ignore the pain they cause, to deny their bigotry or the danger of their power. but i am called to forgive seventy times seven. not for others, but in my heart, for myself. i am loving my enemy this lent.

[hobohobgoblim]

So it's Ash Wednesday and I have an Ash Wednesday story.

For most of my childhood I went to Catholic Church where my dad and godparents and most of the adults I knee played the music. Sometimes that included me because church was MANDATORY. I won't go into the many ways that fucked me up for now. The parish priest was an old-school fire and brimstone asshole, but this Ash Wednesday he'd been ill, so in his place we got this young priest with a lilting Irish accent who gave a sermon on Lent like none my 13 year old ears had ever heard. It went something along the lines of:

"God loves you, and therefore God wants you to be happy, to feel joy, comfort, and love. (Least. Catholic. Sentence. Ever.) Now I know that we often look at Lent as penance for our sins, but I ask you why should penance be cruel? If God wants you to be happy then make your penance an act of joy. This Lent don't give up the things that bring you joy, give up the things that bring you misery, sadness, pain, and anger. Fast from the things that keep you from God's joy."

And that's the story of how I gave up Catholicism for Lent.

[voidingintotheshout]

Right now it’s Lent AND Ramadan.

It’s LLAMADON!

[theonion]

“I realize it’s supposed to be a festive time of conception and new growth in the womb of Mother Earth and all,” Birch said. “But I just know that within an hour of arriving, things will get so bad that I’ll be reverting to my 12-year-old self, hiding in the rec room downstairs, wearing my Iroquois false face mask and fingering my runes for comfort. It’s not worth it.”

Full Story

[cheerfullycatholic]