Catholicism-Roman Catholicism-Roman Catholic Christianity

Sometimes, 40 Days Is Not Enough

Last week, I mentioned that, in the traditional Roman Catholic calendar, the three Sundays before Lent were a special pre-Lenten period--"the front porch of Lent," as our parish priest likes to say.
But the Latin Rite Church, in both the old (pre-1970) and new liturgical calendars has nothing on the Eastern Church, both Catholic and Orthodox. For Eastern Christians, the preparation for Lent begins in the midst of the Christmas season, four Sundays before Western Ash Wednesday. (Eastern Christians don't celebrate Ash Wednesday as the first day of Lent; instead, they begin Lent on Clean Monday, two days before Ash Wednesday.)READ MORE>>>