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Lent

“Dear brothers and sisters, every moment of our lives is a time for believing, hoping and loving. The call to experience Lent as a journey of conversion, prayer and sharing of our goods, helps us—as communities and as individuals—to revive the faith that comes from the living Christ, the hope inspired by the breath of the Holy Spirit and the love flowing from the merciful heart of the Father.”
—Pope Francis, Message for Lent, 2021

Lent

Ash Wednesday Services - February 22, 2023

As a university community, let us begin this season together in prayer by attending one of our Ash Wednesday services. Services on the Broadway campus will be held in Our Lady's Chapel (Administration Building) at the following times and are open to the general public:

  • 8 a.m. (Our Lady's Chapel) Mass
  • 12 p.m. (Our Lady's Chapel) Mass
  • 4 p.m. (Our Lady's Chapel) Ecumenical Service
  • 6 p.m. (Our Lady’s Chapel) Mass (in Spanish)

Additionally, the following services will be held on our professional school campuses for the convenience of students, faculty, and staff who cannot attend one of the services above in Our Lady's Chapel. Due to space limitations, these services are not open to the general public.

  • 8 a.m. (Bowden Eye Clinic) Liturgy of the Word
  • 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. (SoPT) Self-guided contemplative service with four stations. Ashes will be administered between 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
  • 12:10 p.m. (SOM) Mass
  • 2 p.m. (FEIK) Ecumenical Service
  • 3 p.m. (RSO) Liturgy of the Word

Fast, Pray, Give

Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms; and we practice self-control through fasting. We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent, but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ's will more faithfully. We recall the waters of baptism in which we were also baptized into Christ's death, died to sin and evil, and began new life in Christ.

Many know of the tradition of abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent, but we are also called to practice self-discipline and fast in other ways throughout the season. Contemplate the meaning and origins of the Lenten fasting tradition in this reflection. In addition, the giving of alms is one way to share God's gifts—not only through the distribution of money, but through the sharing of our time and talents. As St. John Chrysostom reminds us: "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2446).

(Source: USCCB-What is Lent?)

Prayer Opportunities:

Mondays and Fridays of Lent: Stations of the Cross are prayed on Mondays at 12:30 p.m. (traditional version) and Fridays at noon (contemporary version) during Lent. All are welcome to join in this devotional prayer in Our Lady's Chapel (Broadway campus/Admin. bldg.). For those who cannot be present physically, we invite you to pray the following Scriptural Way of the Cross (pdf), prepared by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. There will be no in-person Stations of the Cross on 3/10, 3/13, 3/17 (dates preceding and during Spring break) and on 3/20 (Incarnate Word Day Mass).

March 22, 2023 - Catholic Reconciliation Service | 5:30 p.m. (Our Lady's Chapel)

A complete listing of our events during the Lenten Season (2/22/23 - 4/6/23) may be found on our Lenten Season Schedule of Events (pdf).

More Lenten Resources:

Learn more at Busted Halo (Lent)