Ash Wednesday Blog Reads

The great penitential season of Lent has begun.  On Ash Wednesday, there is always a Traditional Latin Mass at 7:00 PM at Assumption Grotto, and the choir and scholas sing.  This is their usual practice night and they are all there.

If you come to this post after Ash Wednesday, all of this is still good as it sets the mood for Lent, so you might want to revisit this post to continue through the resources here.

First, we look to the Holy Father, Pope Francis.  Here is the summary from Vatican Radio on his catechesis for this Ash Wednesday:

Today, Ash Wednesday, begins our Lenten journey of penance, prayer and conversion in preparation for the Church’s annual celebration of the saving mysteries of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. In these days the Church asks us to ponder with joy and gratitude God’s immense love revealed in the paschal mystery and to live ever more fully the new life we have received in Baptism. This journey of spiritual renewal in the footsteps of Christ also calls us to acknowledge and respond to the growing spiritual and material poverty in our midst. Specifically, it means consciously resisting the pressure of a culture which thinks it can do without God, where parents no longer teach their children to pray, where violence, poverty and social decay are taken for granted. May this Lent, then, be a time when, as individuals and communities, we heed the words of the Gospel, reflect on the mysteries of our faith, practice acts of penance and charity, and open our hearts ever more fully to God’s grace and to the needs of our brothers and sisters. 

Back in December of 2013,  the Holy Father gave a longer message for Lent 2014.  The Holy Father was going to celebrate Mass later.  Watch the Vatican Radio homepage, possibly, for a homily. 

Also noteworthy, is that Pope Francis has given another interview to a secular Italian newspaper.  There is no translation of the entire interview, and Pat Archbold has more translated excerpts than just the part I've seen elsewhere, with the usual caveats about early translations. I'll try to pass along a full text translation when it is available. 


Closer to home, in Detroit, Archbishop Vigneron is kicking off a "Year of Prayer for a New Pentecost"  (see full statement of the Archbishop here). 


The ever spiritual Vultus Christi blog does not disappoint when looking for a good reflection for Ash Wednesday.  Tradition minded Dom Mark at the Silverstream Priory, begins his post with five disciplines of Lent with this introduction:

Ash WednesdayAsh Wednesday addresses the heart. Ashes are sprinkled on our heads, but Lent is lived in the heart. God wants pierced hearts. God looks for the broken heart. “Even now,” says the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments” (Joel 2:12-13). Paradoxically, in order to give God one’swhole heart, it must first be pierced and broken. This is what we mean when we speak of compunction and contrition.

Father Z does a daily audio LENTCAzT through this holy season.  He has one up for Ash Wednesday.    You can listen to these on your computer if have speakers or headphones. Check daily or subscribe in iTunes.  I must say that Father Z's podcasts are among the best, both in quality and substance.  He also draws on the Church Fathers, his area of study.

The nuts and bolts guy of the apologetics wing of the Catholic blogosphere, Jimmy Akin, gives us 9 Things to Know and Share about Ash Wednesday.

Over at, the Catholic Gentleman, (a blog I heartily recommend to ladies, as well), Sam Guzman talks about Lent and prayer in this post.

Also at the National Catholic Register, Sarah Reinhard discusses the great Benedictines of Mary and their latest CD - Lent at Ephesus - which is filled with chants, polyphonies, and hymns.  You can hear samples in that last link.

Blogging Dominican, Fr. Philip N. Powell, discusses Advice to Preachers and Listeners.

Over at Southern Orders, Fr. Allan J. McDonald says the media is trying to undermine Pope Francis and the Church, but it's not working to well.  The problem is, they haven't seem to have figured that out yet.

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The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church;
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