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4. Historically, Lent is the 40-day period
before Easter, which the Church uses to
prepare for the celebration of our Lord Jesus
Christ’s Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

5. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which is
the day on which the faithful have their
foreheads signed with ashes in the form
of a Cross.

6. Ashes are made by burning the palm branches from last
year’s Palm Sunday celebration. Ashes represent our
mortality, which was caused by the destructiveness of
sin. We go to Mass on Ash Wednesday to have ashes
smudged onto our foreheads in the sign of the cross as a
reminder that Jesus took this destruction upon himself.
Anyone may receive the ashes, including non-Catholic
Christians.

7. The minister (which can be a priest, deacon,
or lay person) who gives us the ashes says
one of the following to us: “Remember, you
are dust, and to dust you will return” or
“Turn away from sin and be faithful to the
Gospel.” It’s a great way to start Lent!
ter of the Imposition of
Ashes

8. • Sundays during Lent are not considered part
of the forty days. Sundays always celebrate
the Lord’s resurrection.
• After the forty days of Lent comes the Holy
Triduum: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and
Holy Saturday. Then comes Easter.

9. • The forty days of Lent unites us to the forty-day
experience of Jesus in the desert at the start of
his ministry. There, he resisted the temptations
of the devil. By refusing to sin, Jesus conquered
the Tempter for us. By uniting ourselves to
Jesus more closely during Lent, we grow
stronger in resisting temptation.

10. Lent is forty days of examining our lives (more
than we normally do) to become aware of the ways
we succumb to temptation so that we can ask for
and receive forgiveness and to grow stronger in
holiness. Lent is a time of purification. To help us
with this, we have three special practices: Fasting,
Prayer, and Almsgiving.

11. Lent officially ends on Holy
Thursday. That is when the
"Triduum", great three Days of holy
Thursday, Good Friday and Holy
Saturday occur leading to Easter.

12. The three traditional pillars of Lenten
observance are:
a) Prayer
b) Fasting and Abstinence
c) Almsgiving

13. Lent is an invitation to grow closer to God. Because
prayer improves our relationship with God, we pray
more during Lent. Catholic churches offer increased
opportunities for prayer, but we should also increase
our prayers at home and wherever we go. Popular
Lenten devotions include attending Daily Mass,
praying the Rosary, and meditating on the Stations of
the Cross.

14.  We fast to improve self-control in an act of solidarity
with those who are less fortunate. It also reminds us
that everything we have is a blessing from God.
 Throughout all of Lent, we make personal sacrifices
in a spirit of penance. For example, in sadness for our
sins we might dine out less or stop watching TV
shows that glorify immoral behavior.

15.  On Fridays, Catholics age 14 and older abstain from meat. Why
Fridays? Because it unites us to the day of our Lord's death. Why
abstain from meat? Because during biblical times, meat was
considered a food of rejoicing, since it was not always available.
We abstain from eating meat (“the food of rejoicing”) in
mourning for Jesus and the death he suffered for our sins.
 On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, we abstain from meat –
and those who are 18 to 60 years of age also fast by limiting food
to just one full meal or two small meals (except when health or
the ability to work is seriously affected).

16. Almsgiving is an act of charity. We put our faith
into action by sacrificing time, talents, and
financial resources. By giving priority to doing
good deeds (for example, helping the less
fortunate), we make self-denial a personal
penance for our sins, and we grow in holiness.

17. Filipino Practices
During Lenten Season

18. Visita Iglesia
 For many years, the practice of visiting
different churches during Lent has been
referred to as “Visita Iglesia.” A typical
tradition and a significant religious
observance among Filipino Catholics is to
visit churches on Maundy Thursday and
Good Friday in memory of Christ’s death.

20. Moriones Festival
 Moriones Festival in Marinduque,
an island in Southern Tagalog Region.
It is an annual week-long festivities
that start on Holy Monday and
culminates on Easter Sunday.
Moriones are the penitents who are
garbed in colourful garments
replicated from the biblical Roman
soldiers. They also wear mask
patterned after the 16th and
th

21. Crucifixion in San Pedro, Cutud
Pampanga is the actual
nailing of a penitent on the
cross re-enacting the
crucifixion of Jesus.
Flagellants also walk the
streets barefooted while
beating their backs with
wooden sticks until they

22. Waving of Palaspas
 It is the day in which the faithful commemorate and honor
Jesus Christ's glorious entry into Jerusalem as Savior and
King. Filipinos in the Philippines go to church on Palm
Sunday to attend Mass and have their woven palm fronds
(palaspas) blessed by the priest. The ritual of waving palm
leaves as the priest approaches the church is a reenactment
of Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem.

24. Salubong
 It is one of the most traditional religious rites in the
Philippines, taking place on Easter Sunday morning.
Men hold the Christ statue in two different
processions, while women accompany the portrait
of a sorrowful Mary, who is dressed in a black
mourning gown. The apocryphal meeting of the
risen Christ with his mother is portrayed in the
aforementioned rite.

25. Pabasa ng Pasyon
known as Pabasa, it is the chanting of life
suffering of Jesus Christ. A group of
people, takes turns to chant parts of the
verses from the book known as Pasyon.
Pabasa is done continuously day and
night from Maundy Thursday until Good
Friday.

27. Stations of the Cross
 Stations of the Cross, also called Way of the Cross, a series
of 14 pictures or carvings portraying events in
the Passion of Christ, from his condemnation by Pontius
Pilate to his entombment.
 The devotional exercise of visiting and praying in front of
each of the 14 stations and meditating on the Passion of
Christ stems from the practice of early Christian pilgrims
who visited the scenes of the events in Jerusalem and
walked the traditional route from the supposed location of

28. The Sanhedrin, an exclusive
council of elders, had Jesus
arrested during Passover due to
the fact that they felt threatened
by his religious teachings. They
put Jesus in front of Pontius
Pilate to be tried for blasphemy.
After Jesus was beaten and
tortured, Pilate ordered him to
punishment by death by
crucifixion.

29. Jesus accepts his fate and is
given a large wooden cross;
he’s ordered to carry it to the
location where he will be
nailed to it and left to die.
While the cross is heavy and
difficult to move, Jesus never
complains and begins his
journey to Golgotha.

30. It was at this point that Jesus
fell for the first time under
the weight of the wooden
cross. While there are no
definitive dimensions or
specs recorded of the
cross, Catholic tradition says
that Jesus fell three times
under its weight

31. While carrying the cross,
Jesus reunites with his
mother, Mary. They look into
each others eyes, both
understanding the pain and
heartache each are
experiencing. After the brief
encounter, Jesus continues
carrying the cross to Mount

32. According to all three
Synoptic Gospels, Simon
initially just intended to
observe Jesus carrying the
cross to his crucifixion.
Instead, Simon temporarily
carried the cross after the
Romans ordered him to help
Jesus.

33. Veronica, a woman from Jerusalem
and a disciple of Jesus, saw Jesus
struggling while carrying his cross.
Moved by his pain and sympathy,
Veronica gave Jesus her veil in order
to wipe away his perspiration and
onlookers’ spit off his face. Jesus took
the cloth, held it up to his face, and
then returned to her. When Veronica
looked at the fabric, an image of his
face appeared upon it. This cloth is
now known as the Veil of Veronica.

34. Although he had help from
Simon and Veronica, Jesus
continued to struggle
carrying the cross to
Golgotha, and fell again due
to his wounds, abuse, and
fatigue. Without saying
anything, Jesus regained his
footing and
continued walking.

35. While many fought against
him, Jesus had disciples who
believed and trusted him. Some
of those people were the
women of Jerusalem who came
to comfort and thank him
during his trek to Mount
Calvary. During this encounter,
Jesus told them not to weep for
him, but for the future of
themselves and their children.

36. Not long after Jesus met the
women of Jerusalem, he fell under
the weight of his cross; this last fall
was the worst. As Jesus struggled
underneath the massive cross, his
executioners demanded that he get
up and continue. Roman
soldiers eventually got him back
up on his feet and forced to
continue walking towards his
imminent death.

37. Upon reaching Mount
Calvary, soldiers removed
Jesus’ clothes, leaving him
naked, vulnerable,
and humiliated. At this time,
Jesus was beaten again,
reopening old wounds on his
back. At a certain point,
onlookers stare at Jesus, as his
eyes turn towards heaven.

38. Jesus was nailed to his cross
and placed between two thieves
who were nailed to their own
crosses for their crimes.
Scholars argue whether three or
four nails were used to fasten
Jesus to his cross, but as it was
lifted up, the weight of his body
hung on those nails, increasing
pain and blood loss.

39. After dying on the cross,
according to the Gospel of John,
a soldier stabbed Jesus in the
rib cage with a spear to ensure
that he was dead; blood and
water gushed from the wound.
Later, these soldiers divided his
garments amongst themselves,
including his seamless robe,
also known as the Holy Tunic,
the Honorable Robe, and
Chiton of the Lord.

40. The lifeless body of Jesus is
held by his mother, Mary at the
base of his cross. A rich man
known as Joseph of Arimathea,
then appeared on the scene
who deemed himself
responsible for the burial of
Jesus. Joseph offered an empty,
man-made tomb in the garden
of his house nearby to place the
body of Jesus to rest.

41. The burial of Jesus took place in
Joseph of Arimathea’s vacant
tomb, as planned. Joseph
wrapped the body of Jesus in
linen, placed the body in his
tomb, rolled a stone in front of
its opening and left. The
placement of the large stone
over the tomb’s entrance is
recognized the final sign of the
permanence of death.

42. How can you meaningfully
celebrate the season of lent?