Jeanie Hannaman

By Sean Fitzpatrick, Crisis Magazine - Ash Wednesday is the one day of the year when we can see if the strangers we meet in street and store are Catholic—at least we can see who went to Mass to get their Lent started. While the black ashes clearly mark the brows of the baptized, it isn’t clear to most of those baptized and ashed who it was that began this grim yet gritty liturgical tradition recalling “the way to dusty death,” as Macbeth put it.

By Beth Bubik, Catholic Exchange - Lent is meant to be a time set apart—a sacred season to cultivate a deeper union with Christ. It can be described as a “desert place,” removed from the normal comforts of life—a place where we encounter the Lord in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. It is in this place, in this relationship with Him, that our prayers become most effective. And for that union to happen, I find that fasting from sugar, flour, and alcohol while learning to pray for a spiritual purpose makes all the difference in creating a healthy and holy Lent.