Once again in her maternal wisdom, the Church summons her children to the holy discipline of the forty days. We stand at the threshold of a season sanctified by centuries of prayer and sacrifice: a time appointed not for sorrow alone, but for renewal, not merely to acknowledge our frailty, but to seek the restoration of divine life within our souls.

The penitential practices to which we are called are not ends in themselves. They are sacred means, ordered toward a higher union with our creator and redeemer. Through prayer, we lift up our minds and hearts to God. Through fasting, we subordinate the flesh to the spirit. Through almsgiving, we manifest the charity by which we are bound together in the mystical body of Christ. Thus, Lent becomes not a season of sterile austerity, but a solemn ascent toward deeper communion.

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We invite you to journey with us for the whole of Lent by signing up for The Great Fast, a series rooted in the "monastic Lenten experience." Learn more here.