The Season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 14th. On Ash Wednesday, ashes are placed on everyone's forehead in the form of a cross which is an act of penance and a sign of repentance meant to help us develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice. Lent is the season of fasting, prayer, and penance. During this six-week holy time, we prepare to celebrate the Paschal Mystery - the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord, and to renew our Baptism Promises at Easter.  Our promise is to renounce sin and to profess our faith in God and to examine our lives in the light of the teachings of the Lord.

Stations of the Cross. The practices of walking the Way of the Cross with Jesus dates to the times when people could no longer make pilgrimages to the Holy Land and retrace the actual steps or "stations" which led the Lord to Calvary and the Cross. St. Francis of Assisi is credited with popularizing this devotion in its present form with fourteen stations. The faithful mediate on the suffering and passion of the Lord, seeking to share in a small but meaningful way in the sufferings of the Lord.  We will be praying the Stations of the Cross every Friday during Lent at 6:00 pm in English and 7:00 pm in Polish beginning Friday, February 16th.

Lenten Fast and Abstinence laws:

Everyone 14 years of age or older is bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, and all the Fridays of Lent and Good Friday.

Everyone 18 or older, and under 59 years of age, is bound to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, only one full meatless meal is allowed. Two other meatless meals, sufficient to maintain strength, may be taken accordng to each one's needs. When health or ability to work would be seriously affected, the law does not oblige.

God bless,
Fr. Gregg