Lent       Next Wednesday, February 17th, is Ash Wednesday, which begins the season of Lent.       “By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert” ( Catechism of the Catholic Church , 540) – to his fasting, prayer and overcoming the devil’s temptations.       There is evidence back to the Second Century that since the time of the Apostles some form of Lenten observance was followed by the Church in different forms in different locations, always including prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The observance probably had become standardized by the Fourth Century because the Council of Nicea in 325 refers to “the 40 days of Lent,” indicating it was universal by then.       Pope St. Gregory the Great (c. 540-640 AD) is credited with giving us the Ash Wednesday ceremony where the priest or other minister (typically, but not this year) marks the pen...

Lent           This last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday so we are now in the Season of Lent.          One Lent found St. Francis of Assisi (1181/2 – 1226 AD) in the process of making a small cup which, however, became a distraction during prayer.  What St. Francis did might surprise us.  His biographer tells the story:  One day as St. Francis was devoutly praying Terce with his brothers – the liturgical prayers for 9:00 AM, which consisted primarily of praying the Psalms – “his eyes casually fell on the cup and he began to look at it, and he felt his inner self was being hindered in its devotion. He grieved that the cry of his heart to the divine ears had been interrupted, and when Terce ended he said, so the brothers could hear:  ‘Alas, that such a trifle had such power over me as to bend my soul to itself!  I will sacrifice it to the Lord, whose sacrifice it had interrupted!’  Saying this he grabbe...