We beseech Thee, O Lord, graciously hear our prayers: and releasing us from the bonds of our sins, guard us from all adversity. Through our Lord . . .
Today our Holy Mother Church
celebrates Quinquagesima Sunday. Quinquagesima
in Latin means the fiftieth. This Sunday immediate precedes Ash Wednesday. Our
Eastern brothers, call this Sunday as Cheesefare
Sunday for this is the time when they start abstaining from milk and cheese
products.
Before this day was marked with
merry-making for this was one of the last days of the carnival which ends
before Lent. As a response, Pope Benedict XIV introduced acts of penances for
the excessive merry-making:
“As the days before Lent were frequently spent in merry-making, Benedict XIV by the Constitution "Inter Cetera" (1 Jan., 1748) introduced a kind of Forty Hours' Devotion to keep the faithful from dangerous amusements and to make some reparation for sins committed.” From the Quinquagesima article in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
The Collect for this Sunday talks
about beseeching God to release us from the bonds of sins and to guard us from
all adversity. In the Epistle (1 Corinthians 13: 1 – 13) St. Paul
discusses charity and its preeminence among the two other theological virtues
(i.e. faith and hope).
The
Gospel (Luke 18: 31 – 43) relates the story of Jesus’ prediction of his passion
and death and the healing of a blind man from Jericho. In this episode of the life of Our
Lord, the blind man utters the very famous aspiration (both in the West and
East) “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”
One thing that I love in the calendar
of the Extraordinary Form (or the Tridentine Rite) of the Roman Rite is the season
of Septuagesimatide (Pre-Lent). It gives us a signal that the great discipline of
Lent is fast approaching. It does not make one awestruck when Lent comes but rather
gives Christians time to prepare for the journey to the spiritual desert of Lent.
Athough in the Ordinary Form (Novus
Ordo) you could prepare also for Lent though it lacks a Pre-Lenten season, it is
very different when you are gradually exposed to the season of Lent (violet vestments,
no alleluia, no Gloria). Even God prepared humankind gradually before sending His
Son to them.
Here are some web pages where one
can find suggestions for Lent, we still have roughly three days to prepare:
- Lenten Observances in the Vein of a New Liturgical Movement by Shawn Tribe in the blog New Liturgical Movement
- What Will You Do for Lent This Year? - A Guide for Preparing Now by Dr. Taylor Marshall in the blog Canterbury Tales
Further Readings:
- (1911). Quinquagesima. In The Catholic Encyclopedia.
- Summorum Pontificum Wangaratta for the propers of the Mass.
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