Lent is the preparation time for the annual celebration of
the Paschal Mystery. Its liturgy offers us a chance for a
more intense encounter with Christ. In its totality this time
has the character of “mystery” which in its efficacy
approaches that of a sacrament, so that the Church speaks
of the “annual exercise of the forty days’ sacrament”.Lent has twofold character: it recalls Baptism or prepares
for it; it stresses a penitential spirit. By these means
especially, Lent readies us for celebrating the Paschal
Mystery.Christian life is always a life towards Easter. Therefore,
we are given every year the opportunity for a “forty days’
retreat” to direct our lives anew toward the Paschal
Mystery: with renewed consciousness and decisiveness, in
repeated reflection on the word of God, in a spirit of
prayer, by different forms of penitential practices and by
intensified charitable activity.The renewal in the spirit of Baptism pervades the whole of
Lent, with special intensity on the third fourth and fifth
Sundays and their respective weeks. In Baptism, we have
been given a share in Christ’s Paschal Mystery (Rom
6:1-11). “In his love for all of us, he gives us his sacraments,
to fill us up to everlasting life”. (Preface, fifth Sunday in
Lent).Liturgical Notes
1. The alleluia is omitted in the Liturgy of the Hours and
Mass wherever it is found.2. The “Te Deum” and the Gloria are not said, except on
solemnities and feasts.3. The Sundays of Lent are so important that not even a
solemnity can take their place; a solemnity falling on a
Sunday is transferred to the following Monday.4. On the ferial days of Lent, votive masses and daily
masses for the dead are prohibited, unless there occurs
some genuine pastoral need or utility.5. On the ferial days of Lent, no obligatory memorials may
be celebrated. Those which occur during Lent are
considered optional memorials for that year. Those who
wish to celebrate an optional memorial during Lent, add at
Office of Reading to the Patristic reading with its
response and conclude with the prayer of the Saint. In the
Mass of the day one may say the collect of the Saint.6. Eucharistic Prayer IV may be used on weekdays of Lent.
7. The cross and statues of the saints no longer have to be
covered except in those places where the conference of
bishops decides that this practice is still useful, since
during the last days of Lent the devotion of the people is
directed towards Christ’s Passion. (The Roman Calendar.
ICEL, Washington DC, 1975).
Pastoral Notes
1. The whole season of Lent is a time for ALAY KAPWA, a
Lenten action program for social action in the Philippines.2. Recommended spiritual exercises in all parishes:
a. Thursdays: Common Holy Hour
b. Fridays: Penitential Celebration. Stations of the Cross.
c. Saturdays: Common Holy Rosary.
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