A Handful of Lenten Traditions From Belle's Corner of the Season

Haha, I know this post is incredibly last-minute, but I did want to post a little more on Lent - just wasn't brilliant enough to find much to say. :P But! - I at least have some things to share, if no wonderful meditation to speak or profound speech to give. So I decided I'd share a few of my own Lenten traditions with you folks for the last few days of Lent there are. :)

The Movies of Lent

One of my family's traditions every Lent is to watch certain movies during the season at some point, the most unbroken one being watching The Passion on Good Friday with whoever is old enough to watch. Another movie, though a more recently-added one, is watching Risen on Holy Saturday or Easter. I also tend to watch The Robe during the Easter season, but I guess that doesn't really count for this post. ;P The main one, however, is watching The Passion, and it gets more fulfilling each time because each year or two at least one more person is old enough to see it for the first time, so the audience gets larger with time. :) This time, it'll be me, my parents, and three(?!) of my siblings.

The Friday Meal

I'm sure all of you probably have your own preferences and traditions as to what meal to do on those Lenten Fridays wherein carnivorousness becomes heinous, but we have one of our own that goes back a couple generations. Mia famiglia (and me, of course) have a tradition of doing grilled cheese and tomato soup... for whatever reason. Maybe 'cuz it's a filling, non-meat meal. Maybe it's 'cuz most of us despise fish and any other seafood. Maybe it's just 'cuz we know how to make it. But, for whatever reason, that's what we do.

Holy Week and Mass

Perhaps we could be a bit more creative with our traditions, but we always like to go to daily Mass during Holy Week as a family at least once. However, as this is probably a fairly common one with all you Lent-lovers out there, I will skip over it. ;)

The Watch of the Hour

Even from my youngest days, I remember my dad always watching the hours on Good Friday for the most Holy of Hours. Every year, whatever us kids were doing, he would come and tell us when it was the time, and we would usually do a Rosary or other prayer of some kind. I used to hate it, because my dad would always interrupt whatever we were doing, but now I look forward to it as a helpful reminder.

Getting in the Mood

My mom, my sisters, and I all are advocates of the veil/mantilla/hat/other awesome head covering at Mass, and Lent is no exception! However, when the priest gets his seasonal Mass vestments, doesn't it make you want to get in the mood too? Well, it did me, so now I (and sometimes the women of mia famiglia join me on this) wear a black mantilla all during Lent instead of my favorite white one - just to get into the look of things during the season of penance. I mean, really, we used to do this back in the old days, why not now? :D

The Torture Device

Ya know, I used to think giving up sweets for Lent was such a wimpy thing to do. And perhaps for me it is. But my dad does it - along with other things - every single year. And this perhaps wouldn't be such a big deal... except for my sister. She has a fascination with baking, and is extraordinarily skilled at it, and she always picks Lenten time to try out those delicious new sweet recipes... just when most people have exempted themselves from sweets. I almost think she does it religiously now, as an unbroken tradition to tease all those poor, pious souls who have given it up. However. I actually love it that she does do it, because now, giving up sweets is a much more grace-garnering penance than it used to be. ;)





What did you think? What are your Lenten traditions? Your family's? Have you done any of these? Would you consider them? Have you ever seen The Robe??? :D