Catholic All Week

Ash Wednesday – which this year falls on March 5 – marks the start of the liturgical season of Lent. While it is not a holy day of obligation, it is a special day set aside for prayer, abstinence (refraining from eating meat), fasting (reducing your caloric intake) and repentance. But what do you know about this holy day, and how can observing it help you to live into a holier Lent.

What do the ashes symbolize?

Ash Wednesday evolved from the ancient Jewish tradition of penance and fasting. Ashes have long been a visible symbol of humanity’s grief that our sin caused division from God. Writings from the second-century refer to the wearing of ashes on the head as a sign of penance. They were even applied after going to confession in the early Church. The ashes also symbolize the dust from which God made us. This is recalled when a priest applies the ashes to a person’s forehead and says, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Yet the ashes are also a symbol of our hope that God is gracious and merciful to those who call on Him with repentant hearts.

Where do the ashes come from?

The most visible sign of the Ash Wednesday service is the ashes themselves. Each parish typically makes its own from the palms that were blessed during the previous year’s Palm Sunday services. The palms are burned in a metal vessel and then broken down into a powder.

How do we carry it forward?

Ash Wednesday is just the start of the Lenten season, with its traditional pillars of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, so how do you carry the spirit of the day forward? Set aside some time on this day to talk with your family – or yourself – and set manageable, tangible goals for the Lenten season. It may be attending weekly Stations of the Cross as a family, working together on a service project, making a meatless meal from another country and learning about its history, or blocking off daily time for more intense personal reflection and prayer.

Catholic All Week

Love is in the air this month, when the Church celebrates National Marriage Week (Feb. 7-14) and World Marriage Day (Sunday, Feb. 9) as well as the feast of St. Valentine (Feb. 14). While there is some dispute over who St. Valentine actually was – early Church records identify at least three St. Valentines in the second half of the third century – all of them were martyrs and all are remembered on Feb. 14. According to tradition, St. Valentine risked his life to marry Christian couples during a time of persecution. He finally gave his life in martyrdom, the ultimate manifestation of love. Here are a few ways to add a dash of faith to your Valentine’s Day celebrations:

Sweet treats

Giving candy for Valentine’s Day? Consider sweets with Catholic roots. Lots of people know that Ferrero Rocher makes a decadent chocolate hazelnut candy, but fewer know that the candy and its creator have close ties to our faith. Michele Ferrero, the company’s founder and a devout Catholic, had a deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and wanted to honor her through his work. It is reported that he named his company “Rocher” after the rock grotto, the Rocher de Massabielle, which marks the location where the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette in Lourdes, France. It was said that Ferrero made annual pilgrimages to Lourdes and organized a visit for his employees. He also had a statue of the Virgin Mary in each of his company’s 14 production facilities around the world. Ferrero passed away on Feb. 14, 2015, at the age of 89, but his delicious legacy lives on in his family-run business.

Fields of flowers

Flowers are a staple of Valentine’s Day, but why not add a spiritual bouquet to your beloved’s gift? This meaningful Catholic tradition involves saying prayers or performing acts of mercy, charity or devotion offered on behalf of someone else or for their intentions. Just as you can combine any flowers to assemble the perfect arrangement, you can choose any prayers or acts for the spiritual version. Among the most popular are completing a novena, saying a rosary, attending Mass, spending time in Eucharistic Adoration, volunteering time or money to a ministry the recipient cares about, or making a sacrifice (like fasting or giving something up) on behalf of the recipient. While some organizations will send a card if you request Masses, you can also take a DIY approach to crafting your gift. You can describe what you did in a card, via a text message, or cut out paper flowers and write an individual act on each one to present a physical bouquet.

Words that resonate

Love letters are a tried-and-true Valentine’s Day tradition, but why not focus on words with deep, spiritual meaning? The word “love” is mentioned in the Bible hundreds of times (from 310 to 759 depending on the translation, according to Wikipedia). Take the time (or do a quick Google search) to find a verse that appeals to you and include inspiration from the Word of God in your Valentine’s Day card. If the right verse escapes you, consider a Valentine’s Day prayer. There are many versions, ranging from short acts of love to a St. Valentine Novena that is traditionally said from Feb. 5 to 14.

Catholic All Week

The early days of February are filled with feasts whose names sound all too familiar – the celebrations of Candlemas, St. Blaise and Our Lady of Lourdes. What might be less familiar is the history behind these dates, and the origins of the traditions we practice to commemorate them. Here’s a brief glimpse into their stories.

A celebration of light

Candlemas, commemorated on Feb. 2, marks two simultaneous milestones in the childhood of Christ. This celebration commemorates when Mary and Joseph traveled to Jerusalem to present Jesus in the Temple (the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord) and the purification of the Blessed Mother. Although Mary’s ritual purification was not necessary due to her sinless nature, the ceremony that was required under Mosaic law prescribed that a woman wait 40 days after childbirth before returning to the Temple. The day is known as the Feast of Candles in honor of the words of the Temple priest Simeon, who in the Gospel of Luke prophesized that Jesus would be a light of revelation for the Gentiles and the glory of the people of Israel. On this day, candles are blessed for use throughout the year in liturgical services and in our homes.

Protection from disease

The Feast of St. Blaise is celebrated on Feb. 3 or Feb. 11 in the Eastern Church. St. Blaise was a 4th-century Armenian bishop, physician and martyr. People – and even animals – reportedly flocked to this pious bishop to be cured of their ailments. The Acts of St. Blaise were written 400 years after his death and are widely regarded to have embellished some of the stories surrounding this popular saint. Legend has it that as he was being led away to be imprisoned and eventually martyred – or while he was in prison, depending on the version told – a mother presented him with her young son who was choking on a fish bone. At Blaise’s command, the child coughed up the bone. Today, we honor his feast by having our throats blessed by a priest to help protect them from disease. Two candles are blessed, held crossed together, and pressed against the throat as the prayer of protection is said.

Healing bodies and souls

The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is celebrated on Feb. 11. Beginning in 1858, in the grotto of Massabielle, near Lourdes in southern France, Mary appeared to a young peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous 18 times. Mary asked that a chapel be built on the site of the vision and told Bernadette to drink from a fountain in the grotto. Since Bernadette didn’t see a fountain, Mary indicated a spot where she should dig. When she did, a spring began to flow that remains flowing to this day. Countless pilgrims have flocked to the spring over the centuries in hopes of benefiting from its healing powers. If a pilgrimage to Lourdes isn’t in your immediate plans, you can commemorate the feast by praying the Litany of Our Lady of Lourdes and perhaps watching “The Song of Bernadette,” a 1943 movie about the miraculous apparitions.