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Ash Wednesdayis the beginning of Lent.You are encouraged to come to Mass, hear the Word of God, celebrate the Sacrament of the Eucharist, and receive ashes on your forehead as a sign of repentance and penance. (Ash Wednesday is not a holy day of obligation.)CONFESSIONS DURING LENTThe sacrament of reconciliation is available every Saturday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Please note the extended confession times. In addition, our parish will celebrate a Day of Reconciliation and Forgiveness on Friday, April 4th. See the announcement below.Besides the listed confession times, you can always approach any of the friars and make an appointment.
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PENANCE: Fasting, Prayer, and Alsmgiving
In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus calls us to fast, to pray, and to give alms (Gospel for Ash Wednesday, Matt 6:5ff). At the heart of all penance is the call to conversion. If, however, we are serious about embracing this penitential call to discipleship, then we will identify specific times and places for our fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. Spiritual maturity demands a certain level of concreteness or specificity - we cannot just dream of doing penance sometime and somewhere - we must say "now is the acceptable time!" One such time is Lent. Click herefor a description of Catholic penance from the U.S. Bishops' Conference.
Click herefor the rules of fasting and abstinence.
Click herefor a guide to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
STATIONS OF THE CROSS DURING LENT
We will pray the stations of the cross every Friday in Lent at 12:45 p.m. (right after daily Mass). In addition, you are invited to come in any time the church is open to do your own stations. Different books for this will be placed on a table in the back of church.
OPEN CHURCH DURING LENTOn all Fridays in Lent,. St. Benedict's church will be open from Noon until 9:00 p.m. You are welcome to come in to pray anytime. Various prayer books will be available, if you wish. -
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HOLY WEEK and the
SACRED TRIDUUM“Our Lenten fasting culminates with Holy Week, which recapitu-lates Creation Week at the beginning of time. We rest from our fasting on the seventh night, when begins our Holy Easter. Thus God creates the world anew [from] the Passion to the Resurrection of the Christ.”
St. Athanasius, Easter Letter for the Year 327
(In: Festal Letters, Oxford Edition 1867)
Since the time of the Fathers of the Church, Holy Week has been the very center of who we are as a Church. All through the ancient times and Middle Ages, the seven days from Palm Sunday to the Easter Vigil was the highlight of Catholic liturgy. During Holy Week we remember the last week of Christ’s life on earth, from his triumphal entry into Jerusalem through his saving death on the cross to his resurrection that made all things new. But we do more than just “remember” – we make real!
Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025.
On Tuesday, April 15, Archbishop Charles Thompson celebrates the Chrism Mass at the Cathedral in Indianapolis. -
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