By Fr. Frederick Edlefsen

• Ash Wednesday and Good Friday: Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 18. Fast and abstain from meat. Fasting is generally defined as two half-meals and one full meal. This may vary according to health and other circumstances.

• Fridays in Lent: No meat.

  • Fish Fry by the Knight of Columbus on February 20th and March 6 at 5:30 PM in the Parish Hall.

  • On all Fridays, we have Confessions at 7:00 PM & Stations of Cross at 7:30 PM.

• Wednesdays in Lent (excluding Ash Wednesday): Confessions are available every Wednesday in Lent from 6:30 - 8:00 PM at our Lady of Lourdes and at all parishes in the Diocese of Arlington and in the Archdiocese of Washington, DC.

• Experience Lent: Lent lasts 40 days, not counting Sundays. Moses passed 40 nights on a mount. So did Elijah. So did Jesus in the desert.

• Penance: Voluntarily forego some legitimate pleasures. Be pleasant to people you dislike or disagree with. Avoid backhandedness. Grow in charity.

• Pray and Meditate: Spend quiet time before the Blessed Sacrament or reading the Scriptures, especially the Gospel. Say a daily rosary. Say the Litany of Saints or a Litany of Loreto, daily.

• Read a Saint’s Biography: Good for Confirmation candidates.

• Palm Sunday is on March 29: Palm Sunday marks our entry into Holy Week.

• The Chrism Mass is 11:00 AM at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More on Tuesday, March 31: Celebrated by Bishop Burbidge with clergy. The bishop blesses the Oil of Catechumens (Holy Oil), Oil of the Sick, and the Sacred Chrism. Chrism will be used at baptisms, confirmations, and ordinations.

• Mass of the Lord’s Supper is on Holy Thursday, April 2, 7:00 PM: This Mass begins the Sacred Triduum (three days) and commemorates the first Eucharist at the Last Supper. The “Washing of Feet” after the homily recalls Jesus’ washing of the Apostle’s feet, "For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you” (John 13:15). After Communion, the Eucharist is transferred to a repository in the Parish Hall so people can “stay with him” (Matthew 26:40-41). Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will be available until Midnight.

• Good Friday, April 3: Fasting and abstinence. Confessions from 1:30-3:00 PM. Come to the 3:00 PM Stations of the Cross and 7:00 PM Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion and Death.