Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday text with a blurred cross graphic in a circular frame against a dark background. Text reads: "Ash Wednesday, So popular, it's imitated but they are ruining it."

Ash Wednesday 2021: The One Thing that Gets People to Run to Church, and they Ruin It

Tell me any other day of the year that has no obligation to attend Mass that gets as high an attendance as Ash Wednesday? The success of Ash Wednesday to create favorable desire to go to Church should be lauded, right? So popular is it, that other denominations have been imitating it and having their…

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A historical illustration of a Catholic communion scene. A priest distributes communion to kneeling worshippers in traditional attire, with an open book on a pedestal. The scene is monochromatic and detailed, depicting a solemn religious ceremony.

Ignoring the “Fast” Track: Has Traditional Lent observance become optional?

Ash Wednesday is upon us. The day is not so important as its symbolism as the entryway into the great time of penance. We go forth gird with fasting and abstinence into the Lenten season, foreheads marked with a cross of the dust to which we shall return at journey’s end. Solemn stuff. It is a…

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A tall, ornate Catholic church with a green spire and clock tower. The building features intricate stonework and arched windows, set against an overcast sky with cars parked in front.

Shades of Grey

The Lakeview neighborhood is an attractive area of Chicago’s north side. It seems as if it had always been a popular part of town. Though I didn’t realize it at the time we were dating, my future wife lived on Pine Grove and Diversey–the same street and block where Charlie Chaplin lived 80 years earlier. Typical of the last…

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Ancient brick church with arched windows and a bell tower, surrounded by trees in a park-like setting. The building has a historic Catholic architectural style with muted earth tones and greenery.

Ash Wednesday–Station at S. Sabina

The traditional devotion of the Roman Lenten Stations (or the Stational Churches of Rome), allows us to unite our hearts and minds in our Lenten devotions with the Church of Rome as we spiritually visit the ancient churches and basilicas of the City (Stationalium Ecclesiarum Urbis visitatio). For your devotional life this Lent, consider making…

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