Lent traditions

Jane Hobson
jane@pdgmedia.ca

The Lenten season is a time of fasting, moderation and spiritual discipline that last for 40 days for Christians. This year, lent started on Ash Wednesday (March 1) and ends on the Thursday before Easter (April 13).

The purpose is to set aside time to reflect on the suffering, sacrifice, life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The tradition dates back at 325 A.D.

Many people who are not religious participate in lent by giving something up, like drinking pop or eating chips. Modernly, there are many ways celebrate the Lenten season, either by giving something up or by incorporating a positive new habit.

Hometown News reporter Jane Hobson took to the streets to ask people about their lent traditions.

: “My family’s lent traditions are to make pancakes on Shrove Tuesday but this year I decided to do it with a few close friends. On Ash Wednesday we go to church and the priest applies ashes on our foreheads, on Palm Sunday we also go to church and receive palm fronds. Every year I try and give up something that will be beneficial for my health, so this year I decided to give up coffee. On Sundays though, we are allowed to break lent so I do have a coffee on Sundays. Since I was raised catholic, I mainly only participate in lent because it is tradition in my family.” -Ceilidh Lang. Photo by Jane Hobson.

: “This year I decided to do 40 days of thank you’s. I am a teacher and vice-principal at Holy Name of Mary Catholic School in Almonte. We have amazing staff here who work together as a team to make it a great school. Each day for lent this year I am taking a few minutes to write a little thank you note to each of them to let them know how grateful I am for everything that they do for our students. It came to me during our Ash Wednesday mass. Our parish priest suggested to the students that perhaps they could do something other than giving something up for 40 days, like doing acts of kindness for others. I looked at the staff sitting around the gym and decided that I would thank each of them for the hard work that they do for our school community. We have almost 40 people on staff, so it is perfect.” -Pascale Michaud. Photo submitted by Pascale Michaud.

: “I heard a beautiful reading at school about instead of giving up something, do more. I am trying to give away a bag of stuff a day. It doesn’t always work but I have been getting rid of a lot and giving it away.” -Lise Pignal-Hanson. Photo by Jane Hobson.

: “I don’t have lent traditions but it’s still really cool to see people going with this alternative about adding something positive to your days for forty days. If I was going to do that I would start reading more. I would read more books about how to make my body healthy – in terms of my inner-mental health and my physical body.” -Christine Richards-Bayley. Photo by Jane Hobson.

: “I don’t know how to say that my ‘Nama’ is like best friend. I grew up in a non-religious household, so Easter has never been a holiday where we celebrate it in that way. Almost every year, I try and challenge myself to give up something sweet for lent. I see it as a way of becoming more aware of what foods that I’m putting into my body, and to really reflect on the choices that I’m making. I love this time of year because it marks early spring- the snow is melting, the birds are chirping, and everything is fresh. When I was younger, we would always paint hard boiled eggs, and do an outdoor Easter egg hunt in the field behind my grandparent’s house. They’d hide chocolate eggs in the branches, in the stumps, and it would always be a big race to see who could find the most. As we got older, the tradition started to fizzle. Though nowadays, we still enjoy the day with a feast at brunch. Easter is an important time of year for my family because it has sort of become a double celebration. My uncle passed away 9 years ago, a few weeks before Easter. In his honour, we planted a tree which peaks its full bloom at Easter. It reminds us to stop and think about our loved ones, and to remember his time with us. It’s also fun to watch it grow bigger every year, and for it to eventually become a tree where we can hide Easter eggs for my kids.” -Emma Thuot. Photo submitted by Emma Thuot.

: “Instead of giving something up I’m going to try adding more movement to my daily routine. It’s easy to sit around and read a book for five hours straight. Sometimes I forget that it’s bad to sit still for so long. I’m going to try to get up more and give my body the chance to be as active as possible. I like this alternative idea of adding something to your routine at lent instead of giving something up because giving something up makes it seems like you weren’t the best version of yourself before. I think it’s better to enjoy the person that you are by focusing on something new and exciting. It allows the change to actually happen, it changes your attitude. It’s fun to incorporate something new that will most likely continue after a month.” -Marissa Boivin. Photo by Jane Hobson.