Ut Vinceret Spiritus Mundi: On Lent

Ut vinceret spiritus mundi: to conquer the spirit of the world.

With Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent) just around the corner, we've been discussing Lent here and deciding what we're doing or not doing this year. Forty days to commemorate Our Lord's forty day fast in the desert. The meaningful symbolism in practices like this are such a beautiful part of the Faith. For many years while I was young Lent was the time to sacrifice my comforts, giving up my favorite things as penance. Mostly it was about food; no desserts, no chips, no candy. While well and good, I'm not sure how much it actually bettered me. As soon as Sunday came or Lent was over the excess would resume.

The purpose of Lent is to prepare and perfect our souls for the glory of God, not for ourselves and our own selfish means. It is a time for sacrifices, good works, and extra prayer. Ideally we'll be able to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ on Easter with pure hearts. This is why the telling ourselves "no" penances are so common during Lent. Not to drop ten pounds, or even to be healthier, or get more organized, but to make our souls better. While perfection is unattainable in human form, bettering ourselves should be a lifelong pursuit. And bettering ourselves isn't always synonymous with suffering. Some people are not bettered from certain types of suffering. The older I get it seems to be more in keeping with the purpose of Lent to do things that will help build up good habits (virtues) and edify your neighbor, not just test your will power. 

I found this checklist recently with ideas for keeping a great Lent.

Living a Traditional Catholic life, we are already used to abstaining from meat on Fridays, even throughout the year, saying a daily Rosary, and making time for morning and night prayers. During Lent we also don't eat between meals, eat meat only once a day, and have just three meals a day: two smaller meals that don't add up to the bigger meal. When I still lived with my parents we gave up TV as a family one Lent, when we had a TV. Another year my Dad gave up all food except for potatoes, onions, and garlic. That was The Potato Lent That Became a Huge Story as my Dad dropped weight like a...hot potato. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Needless to say he never did that again.

This year a lot more thought is going into our preparations. What areas can we make improvements to? What can we get better at? What good habits should we try to grow?

For the boys, resolutions are pretty simple and straightforward. Not asking for treats, doing chores without being asked, not complaining about school work. Saying extra prayers and reading more saint stories. We made a hand sign banner to list and remember Lenten resolutions, and hung it in the kitchen where it's esily seen. At this point they're still being added to and edited.

This paragraph includes links to sites we use as resources.
The virtue they're working on this Lent is self control, and there are a lot of useful resources for this over at the Meaningful Mama website. They'll also be keeping count during Lent with this Lenten calendar from Ponder in My Heart Blog. I've considered making a reusable fabric version of the calendar with felt and Velcro people who travel the 40 day path....we'll see if I get around to it. This Stations of the Cross CD from Holy Heroes is a great tool to illustrate the Passion for children and can be listened to when travelling or even in their room while falling asleep at night. Our boys also watch The Passion of the Christ movie, which, when accompanied by the appropriate explanations, has been a poignant way to teach them about the Greatest Sacrifice and just a fraction of how much God loves us. I know some parents won't let their children watch it because of its graphic nature, though for our boys it has only ever produced good effects. We're doing something new this year, similar to the sacrifice straws for Christ's manger at Christmas. For each good deed done or sacrifice made, the boys can put a jelly bean into a cookie jar. These sacrifice beans will be their treat on Easter Sunday. Our school craft will be this Resurrection garden, our table's centerpiece during Lent. It'll be the stage for what's to happen during Holy Week: the tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea will stand empty until Good Friday, when the stone will be rolled over the entrance until Easter morning. We'll enjoy these Resurrection Rolls on Easter Sunday, which are not super healthy but are so fun for littles to help make and wonder where did the marshmallows disappear to? The curiously empty pastry shell reminds us of Christ's empty tomb.

Here are some other more adult ideas we came up with:

Eli and I are cutting out a lot of junk food, as usual. And cheese. I'm also giving up all fast food (unless it's a salad). If you eat out a lot, giving up eating in restaurants is an option. Eat meals as a family...at least once a day. Don't add extra salt or pepper to your food. Give up alcohol. Give up coffee or tea or hot cocoa. Give up caffeine or nicotine. Eat how others eat in less fortunate countries: rice, beans, fruits, and vegetables. Only eat soup.

In areas that are easy to get careless about (slovenly): Make the beds every day. Don't leave dirty dishes in the sink overnight. Grade homework daily instead of every few days or weekly. Have meals ready at an exact hour. Don't let the recycle basket overflow. Delegate more chores to big kids and trust that they'll do them well. Make yourself go to bed at a reasonable time every night. Get up earlier. Make more of an effort in taking care of your appearance, especially if you're a SAHM (comb hair right away in the morning, brush teeth, dress nicely). Or, if you're prone to vanity and spend a long time on your appearance, give up wearing makeup. Only give yourself ten minutes to get dressed. Set out your outfit the night before and don't let yourself second-guess it. Don't use a blow dryer. Give up mirrors. Don't grumble about things you're supposed to do. Don't procrastinate.

Be nice! Charity always needs a shot of steroids around here. Make eye contact and smile at everyone you walk by (instead of looking anywhere else) whether you're afraid they'll think you're nuts or not. (This is very hard for me!) Visit a nursing home. Bring them baked goods. Make a donation to a charity or to church. Anonymously give to others you know could use a helping hand. Bite your tongue, whether it's making fun of your neighbors, snipping at a family member when you're irritated, or just idle conversation. Don't complain about people. Say something nice about someone even if you really really don't want to. Especially if you don't want to. Say a prayer daily for someone you don't get along with. If someone is annoying you, let it go instead of seeking some kind of satisfaction. Put your phone down when someone wants your attention--anyone. Or, just give up your phone for everything other than making phone calls. And blogging, of course.... Give up Facebook, or give yourself a time limit a day for being on social media. Write someone a letter. Perform random acts of kindness: pay for the person behind you in the drive-thru, leave money in vending machines, leave quarters in the car wash. Hold doors open for people.

Are you prone to excess? Or comfort? Too attached to things? Would you be devastated if a tragedy struck and you lost all your possessions? Try telling yourself no; don't take the easiest way. Give away every thing that you're not currently using, that's causing clutter, that's causing chaos in any way in your life. Catholic Icing had a great challenge, found here, about giving away a bag of stuff from your home every day of Lent: 40 bags for 40 days. Only shop for necessity (food, health and hygiene products). Don't use the dishwasher if you have one. Give up paper plates and wash your dishes instead. Park in the furthest parking spot. Give up your favorite TV shows, or TV altogether. Give up video games. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Sleep without a pillow. Wait to scratch an itch. Set aside a time of silence every day where no one is allowed to talk. (I like this one. A lot.)

Build your spiritual life. While confession for Catholics is required at least once during Lent (the Easter Duty), it should be much more often to stay on top of bad habits. Reread the catechism or take a catechism class. Read stories or books by or about the saints. Make an examination of conscience nightly. Say a rosary a day or even just a decade a day. Read from the Bible for ten minutes a day. Say the Angelus at least at noon. Attend daily Mass if it's available to you. Pray the Stations of the Cross on Fridays. Give up novels and only read spiritual books during Lent. Think too much of yourself? Don't say anything about yourself unless asked first.

These are just ideas. It's important that while we want to push ourselves, make it doable. Too much leads to frustration and the throwing out of the proverbial baby with the bath water.

What do you do for Lent? Do you stick to the same things every year or do you switch it up? Is there anything you've done that turned out not to be good?

Have a blessed and productive Lent!