How We Pray, Fast and Give During Lent

The past few weeks have brought a little taste of Lent as well as an anticipation of the joy of the Paschal Mystery. One of my dear sisters in law gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, who lived an hour, was baptised and was then born to Eternal Life.

The day after the baby died we celebrated Elena's 12th birthday, today is Virginia's 5th birthday as well as the baby's burial and Mattia will be 15 in a week's time...It has been a real rollercoaster of emotions of joy tinted with sadness.

It is when death touches your family so closely that life gains a different perspective, that suddenly the many superficial aspects of living that seemed once quite important appear insignificant and all you are left with is your Faith.

Everything passes but the love of God endures for ever. We don't have much of our own to give to our children and yet we have the greatest heritage of all to pass on... The certainty that life with the Lord is the key to happiness in this world and in the next.

Christ died, was buried, rose from the dead and He is seated at right hand of God the Father Almighty. Death has been destroyed so that we also may have access to eternal life. 

The beauty of the tradition of the Church is that like a mature mother who has seen it all before, she guides us through our life, she has the right words and customs for the right moment and season. She had beautiful words of consolation and encouragement during the funeral and during Lent she knows how to prepare our spirit to fully enter the Paschal Mystery.

Click on the picture for more posts on #HowWeLent #TheSienaSisters

 'Ash Wednesday' will soon be upon us and marks the beginning of Lent, although it is not a holy day of obligation, missing the service would be a real pity.  The ashes are made from the palms of the previous year's Palm Sunday and are blessed by the priest, with these a sign of the cross is imposed by the minister on the forehead of all the faithful as he pronounces the words from Genesis "Remember, that you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (there are alternative texts but this is the best one!). We face another Lent, another opportunity to repent and change our ways... another year that finds us in a new situation.

Another 40 days of preparation in which we remember the 40 days and 40 nights Jesus spent fasting in the desert.

Fasting, Almsgiving and Prayer during Lent 

Scripture tells us that in the wilderness Jesus was tempted. These are the same temptations that each of us faces in our daily life, to fall under the power of the three great enemies of the Christian life: the world, the flesh and the devil. To combat these enemies the Church has traditionally given us three weapons; prayer, fasting and almsgiving. 

Temptation of the flesh: 

Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry.  And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 

 The first temptation is the one of lust... the devil invites Jesus to satisfy the desires of the body, to act against the will of the Father, to reject God's own time and to provide there and then rather than to wait, trust and be fed by God. To this temptation Jesus answers is 'Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

To help us and to be ready to overcome this temptation the Church offers us the weapon of Fasting. To fast means to abstain, to deprive your body, usually of food and/or drink. We do this in order to train our body not to be driven by its needs, by what it asks for but to learn to wait... so that the body can be ready in front of greater sins. Fasting is also an ideal practise for the mortification of the flesh and the calming of the passions. When we fast we acknowledge that we do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God'.

How we, as a family fast during Lent:

We fast as individuals and also as a family. Each one of us will give up something very specific. The boys will usually stop playing with their Xbox, the girls will give up chocolate and sweets; no TV for anyone (except on Sunday) and a Lenten film night at the weekend helps us to replace leisure with spiritual nourishment. There won't be any wine on the table, no drinks other than water. Simpler meals and only fruit instead of a dessert to finish our meals. Friday meals will alternate between a fish based supper and bread and water which, for some bizarre reason, the children find a very exciting meal.

Temptation of the devil: Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple,  and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,‘He will give his angels charge of you,’and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,lest you strike your foot against a stone.’

How many times have we found ourselves putting God to the test, how many times have we doubted His Providence, in His love for us and how many times have we rebelled and fought against His plan... 

 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

Sin began through Eve's dialogue with the devil. And our own sins and rebellions against God also begin in a dialogue with the devil, it's not fair... why me? why is my husband like that? Why is the money never enough? Prayer is the powerful weapon given by our mother Church to switch from a dialogue with the devil to a dialogue with God.

Vocal prayer, meditation and contemplative prayer are the three most important ways of praying. Prayer should be at the centre of our family life and even more in such strong liturgical moments. 

As Saint Therese of Lisieux writes Prayer is an aspiration of the heart, it is a simple glance directed to heaven, it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trail as well as joy; finally, it is something great, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus. 
Saint John Vianney adds In prayer we receive a foretaste of heaven and something of paradise comes down upon us. Prayer never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey that flows into the souls and makes all things sweet. When we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before the sun.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola reminds us We must speak to God as a friend speaks to his friend, servant to his master; now asking some favour, now acknowledging our faults, and communicating to Him all that concerns us, our thoughts, our fears, our projects, our desires, and in all things seeking His counsel.'


How we pray as a family during Lent:
Every evening, after cleaning the kitchen the family gathers in the sitting room to pray the Rosary. 
We will try to attend daily Mass as a family or separately and weekly Adoration.
For the first time as the children are now older we will spend some time with them studying scripture (Lectio Divina).

The temptation of the world: Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
Though the world is a beautiful place, we are not of this world. It is very easy to lose sight of the Kingdom and to seek wealth, fame, power, recognition, praise and worldly perfection. Perhaps we are not aiming to take over the world but in our own domains at home or at work these are easily recognisable temptations. 

Almsgiving ( In Greek eleemosyne, "pity," "mercy") Jesus speaks about money an awful lot, more than we find comfortable, and you'll notice how often people will talk about almsgiving and immediately offer alternatives to money be it time or prayer, charities will ask for your old clothes, your unused items, old mobiles, all good things but sometimes you just need to put your hand in your pocket and take out some hard cash, it's a whole different experience. No one places their security in old clothes but in money... yes. 

How we practise almsgiving as a family during Lent:

I won't be able to disclose what we do as  it is written 'But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing', but here is a practical suggestion... Decide ahead on a Charity or a charitable cause you would like to donate money towards. Talk about it with the children and get them to decorate a little lenten box to keep around the house with easy access. During the 40 days of Lent put money in the box. Everyone gives as much or as little as he can and above all in secret. Money given through charities is great but some unmediated giving is also good, look a homeless person in the eye and give them some money. Do you know a family who is struggling? Drop them an envelope anonymously.

As Pope St John Paul II wrote, the three weapons of prayer, fasting and almsgiving are a powerful aid to progress in holiness, helping to master and correct the inclinations of human nature wounded by sin, indispensable if we are to remain faithful and follow Jesus on the way of the cross. (Vita Consecrata 38)

  Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! for it is written,

‘You shall worship the Lord your God

and him only shall you serve.’”

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.

Introductions - Answering Why I Blog

It will be almost a year on the 20th of February since I embarked on this blogging adventure. It has been a wonderful and interesting journey so far...

For a couple of years, I was scouting the web searching for signs of life... signs of living faith around the world. I guess I needed to know that we weren't alone... That there were other families like us who had embraced the message of the Gospel and were, in all their humanity, imperfections and weaknesses, striving for sanctity.

The seed planted in baptism was nurtured by Pope St John Paul II, his call to young people had taken a deep root within us and the calling to heroism and perfection in Christ was strong in our lives. JPII spoke to us with love,  he was firm in his words and consistent... he was not afraid of telling us how things were, where we stood and what we needed to do in order to enter the Kingdom. No compromises! No half baked catechesis... He called us to Sainthood!

In my search I came across some beautiful people who also, in their imperfect life, had the desire to live their life with fullness of joy. I read of their struggles, their achievements, their sufferings, their joys, real people opening a window on their life, sharing as much or as little as they liked.

For about a year I pondered whether or not to start a little blog myself... and after much discernment I decided to go for it.

Why did I do that, why did I decide to start blogging myself?

I blog because when I needed some hope I found some among the lines of a post. In the same way I pray to the Lord that our family blog may give encouragement to those who will need it.

I blog because in a world surrounded by technology and social media the Good News should go viral ;-)

I blog because I have a beautiful story to tell where God is the author... and so have you.

I blog because I want people to know that God can do miracles, that His Love is immense and available to anyone.

My children blog to give hope to other young people, to encourage them to chose Christ above everything, because they have already experienced in their young life that with Him life is truly exciting.

My husbands blogs and allows my craziness firstly out of gratitude, God has given us so much we cannot keep it for ourselves and because if God inspires you or yours to say something you shouldn't get in the way.

Putting Christ into Christmas: Wigilia and Oplatek, The Most Beautiful Polish Tradition

One of the beauties of marriage is that your life is enriched not only by your spouse but also by the dowry that comes with him/her, a dowry which no longer comprises money, land, pots and pans but something far greater. A new way of experiencing the key moments of life and the discovery of each family's weird and wonderful traditions.

Growing up in Sicily my family owned a bakery, though it allowed us to have a comfortable life, it also had some draw-backs... like working even harder than usual while everyone else was having fun. Bread is a vital part of the mediterranean diet and even on ordinary days people would visit the bakery twice daily to ensure their bread was fresh at both lunch and dinner, so on special days like Christmas it was even more important and that meant we had to work extra-hard.

As late-night and Sunday opening became more common even in Italy, the time for us to feast as a family became less and less as I grew up. Midnight Mass was impossible to attend as the bakery would still be open and Christmas Eve was a lonely affair around a scruffy Christmas tree with my siblings, aunty and grandparents, awaiting the return from the bakery of my exhausted parents.

As things developed towards marriage with Pierpaolo he introduced me to a different way of celebrating Christmas which I'm happy to say has now become my own. In a secular society which has lost many connections to its Christian heritage we often have to find ways of re-introducing Christ into the rhythms of life and to keep feasts and seasons that have long since disappeared from public commemoration. However, here I found a ready-made way of celebrating the feast that was full of that depth of meaning we only find in an authentic Catholic tradition.

For a large Italian-Polish family, Christmas is a huge deal and although we spend the rest of the year behaving like a stereotypical Italian family, at Christmas no one can mistake the Polish influence. 

Polish Wigilia or the Christmas Eve Vigil is a celebration of the Domestic Church in the true sense of the word. It has developed over the centuries into a long and elaborate meal full of traditions pregnant with meaning. There is prayer, forgiveness, scripture, singing, fish, bread and a feeling of expectancy (and of course plenty of vodka). Parallels with the Jewish Passover or sabbath meal are obvious and there are books which describe and explain the Polish Christmas vigil not unlike the Jewish haggadah books that explain the how to celebrate passover.

The celebration begins as the first star of the evening appears and the family gathers together with any guests. The prologue to the Gospel of John is read to remind us of God's incredible love for us in sending his son among us and before we begin the feast as scripture says: we 'make peace with our brother' (Mt 5:23 ff) by breaking bread together. St John Paul II of course celebrated Christmas Eve according to the Polish tradition and he described it like this: 

"In the country I come from, the tradition of breaking the so-called Christmas wafer, that is the bread of the Vigil, is linked to the Christmas Eve gatherings. This custom recalls the bread we place on the altar and which, by the Eucharistic consecration, becomes the Body of Christ. For believers, breaking bread, the fractio panis, recalls the most ancient Christian traditions and has a deeply religious character. By breaking bread with another, the intention is not only to express formal benevolence to him, but a total readiness to wish him and to do what is good for him.

The tradition of sharing the bread of the Vigil, a custom in which a reflection of the Eucharist can be recognized, recalls that by becoming flesh the Son of God made himself a gift for us; at the same time, it means to stress our availability to become a gift for others.

After the solemn moment of breaking the Christmas wafer the supper begins and table companions converse. This conversation has a particular character because it concerns the relations existing between people: they speak of what unites them and what possibly separates them. If misunderstandings arise, together they try to overcome them. Dear ones are remembered, especially those absent, the living and the dead. Meeting at table is a privileged opportunity to start a friendship, to encourage reconciliation and communion. At the Christmas Eve table, there is room for all."

4 Ways to Keep Christmas out of Advent

Christmas music is all around us, decorations are to be found in every shop and the premature festive spirits seems to have been imposed on us once again by the consumerist society we live in. Every year Christmas seems to start earlier. At least now that Halloween is getting bigger we know it means that Christmas can’t start before the 1st of November but that seems to be as good as it’s going to get.

1.Have an eschatological Advent

Advent is a game of two halves, the first 15 days look forward to the second coming of Christ in glory at the end of time and the last nine days (novena) looks forward to Jesus’s birth. Use the Sunday readings to speak about the second coming. Are we looking forward to it or are we afraid? Do we say Maranatha (come Lord Jesus) or not yet?

2.Advent traditions

Advent is a time of waiting, watching, preparing. There needs to be a sense of anticipation of ‘we’re not there yet - but soon’. The Advent wreath is helpful, keep the candles lit whenever the family is together. Advent calendars work as well. When you put up the family crib make sure Jesus is left out until after midnight Mass. Ideally the house should be decorated in earnest after the 16^th when the focus shifts from the second coming at the end of time to the first coming in Bethlehem.

3.The weapons of Advent
Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are the three weapons that the Church gives us to help us to defeat the world, the flesh and the devil. Lent and Advent are special times for us to do battle to purify ourselves in readiness for Christ’s coming. It’s a time to increase the intensity of our prayer. We’re planning to teach a new Marian prayer to our children, the Alma Redemptoris Mater a lesser known prayer than the Salve Regina but one the Church has said during Advent and Christmas for a thousand years.

4.Celebrate all twelve days of Christmas

Fasting is hard but sometimes feasting seems even more difficult. At Easter the Church asks us to feast for 50 days so 12 should be a doddle. However, when you’ve been celebrating as if it’s Christmas from some time in November then by the time Christmas actually starts it’s all getting a bit boring. So hold something back for those twelve days, we always ensure that certain types of food cannot be touched until Christmas has really started. In our house Panettone and Pandoro are off limits until the 25^th. Make time for your family throughout from Christmas to Epiphany. Keep the decorations looking beautiful. Eat dinner from your best china, light a candle when you have dinner, whatever your favourite Christmas treats are make sure you have enough to keep you going. The Church gives us some amazingly rich feasts during that period, the Holy Family, the Holy Innocents, Mary Mother of God celebrate them all! Is it all a bit much? Well it’s a birthday unlike any other, the birth of our Saviour, of God incarnate so whatever celebration we can plan is less than it deserves.
 

The  Siena Sisters  CWBN (Catholic Women Blogger Network) posts will be live on the 3rd Tuesday of each month.