| Lent 2010 |
Ash Wednesday is the start of Lent, the 40-day season that precedes the celebration of Easter. During Lent, the Church encourages attendance at daily Mass, self-imposed times of fasting and generosity to local, national and worldwide programs of sharing. We invite you to join us in prayer as we prepare for Holy Week, the most sacred days in the Church's calendar, when we reflect on the suffering and death of Jesus Christ and his glorious resurrection.
The Stations of the Cross (USCCB version - Non-audio link)
The Stations of the Cross (Spirit Catholic Radio production version - Audio link)
Holy Week and Easter Programming on KVSS (Tune in for special programming!)
Lenten Observances
Ash Wednesday (February 17th)
Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, and a day of fasting and abstinence. Ashes are distributed during Mass by marking them on our foreheads as a symbol of our penitence and mortality.
Holy Week (March 28th - April 3rd)
Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion and ends on Holy Saturday.
Paschal Triduum (April 1st - April 4th)
Paschal Triduum (also known as Easter Triduum) begins on Holy Thursday with the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper and ends with evening prayer on Easter Sunday. If it hasn't been already, the baptismal font is emptied at this time in preparation for the blessing of the water at the Easter Vigil Mass.
Good Friday (April 2nd)
Good Friday (also known as Holy Friday), a day of fasting and abstinence, commemorates Jesus Christ's crucifixion and death with the Adoration of the Holy Cross and/or the Stations of the Cross.
Easter Vigil Mass (April 3rd)
The Easter Vigil Mass is celebrated after nightfall on Holy Saturday. The baptismal water is blessed, and the sacraments of initiation are conferred upon the adults who have joined the Church through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, or RCIA.
"A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me."
- Psalm 51:12