Prepare for Lent and Triduum

Shared by Sue of Half the Kingdom Be sure to check out the Lenten Novena on her blog.

As my DH would say, Lent is a time to gain "plenty of indulgences" (plenary indulgences).

During Lent, we prepare ourselves to share in the Crucifixion. We make ready by cleansing ourselves of sin through the sacrament of reconciliation and cleansing the world of all traces of our sin through the work of indulgences. Both Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI created new indulgences during their pontificates to re-emphasize the importance of this ancient teaching.

What are Indulgences?

God sent us into the world to make the world a better place. Unfortunately, my sins make it worse. When I sin, I do two things: I take grace away from (1) myself and (2) the rest of the world. Because my sin takes away my power to be joyful, I do not have the power to treat others well. The sacrament of reconciliation restores me to a state of joyful grace, but the people I mistreated still suffer from my earlier lack of grace. How do I repair that damage? And I must repair that damage – God intends me to make the
world a better place, and I must do His will. In fact, I cannot enter heaven until I have. The world must be free from the suffering my sins have caused.

I have two choices if I wish to heal the world: I can share in the healing work of the Cross either in Purgatory or through indulgences. An indulgence (partial or plenary) is a prayerful act I can do today that restores part or all of the grace the world would have enjoyed if I had never sinned. However, to be worthy of sharing in this healing work of Christ, I must first be in a state of grace.

To perform a partial indulgence, I need only be in a state of grace when doing the work.

To perform a plenary indulgence, I must be in a state of grace when doing the work, receive confession, receive the Eucharist, pray for the Pope’s intentions (an Our Father, Glory Be and a Hail Mary is sufficient), and make an act of the will to love God and despise all sin, even the most venial.

Plenary Indulgences for the Seasons of Lent and Triduum
Every Friday of Lent: Recitation of O Good and Sweetest Jesus after reception of the Eucharist before an image of the crucified Christ.

Holy Thursday: Praying the Tantum Ergo after the Mass of the Last Supper.

Good Friday: Participating in the Veneration of the Cross.

Holy Saturday: Renewing your baptismal vows at the Easter Vigil Mass (renewing your baptismal vows on the anniversary of your baptism may also earn a plenary indulgence). Attending any Mass of First Communion (Easter Vigil Mass is a First Communion Mass) may likewise earn a plenary indulgence.

Only one plenary indulgence may be won per day.

Stations of the Cross: This always merits a plenary indulgence, no matter the season. It must be performed before 14 stations, lawfully erected, with devout meditation on the Passion of Our Lord and movement from one station to the next. If the crowd is large, the leader at least must move from cross to cross.

O Good and Sweetest Jesus
Look Down Upon Me, O Good and Sweetest Jesus, while before your face I humbly kneel, and with burning soul pray and beseech you
to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity, true contrition for my sins, and a firm purpose of amendment,
while I contemplate with great love and tender pity your five wounds, pondering over them within me, calling to mind the words which David, your prophet, said of you, my good Jesus: “They have pierced my hands and my feet; they have numbered all my bones.” Amen.

Tantum Ergo
Down in adoration falling, To the Everlasting Father
Lo! The Sacred host we hail. And the Son Who reigns on high,
Lo! O’er ancient forms departing, With the Spirit blessed proceeding
Newer rites of Grace prevail; Forth, from Each eternally,
Faith for all defects supplying, Be salvation, honor, blessing,
Where the feeble senses fail. Might and endless majesty. Amen.

The Stations of the Cross
1 Christ is Condemned to Death
2. Christ Carries His Cross.
3. Jesus Falls the First Time.
4. Jesus Meets His Mother.
5. Simon Helps Jesus Carry His Cross.
6. Veronica Wipes Jesus' Face.
7. Jesus Falls the Second Time.
8. Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem.
9. Jesus Falls the Third Time.
10. Jesus is Stripped of His Garments
11. Jesus is Nailed to the Cross.
12. Jesus Dies on the Cross.
13. Jesus’ Body is taken down from the Cross
14. The Deposition of Christ’s Body in the Tomb

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