Lenten Meme

The Catholic Warrior has tagged me for this one: I am happy to oblige...

1. What is your favourite Sorrowful Mystery?
"The Agony in the Garden." It reminds me of the inspiration which came to me when I first returned to the Church... Jesus knew all the sins I would commit, and he still went ahead and died for me... even if I had been the only person to be saved as a result of his Passion and Death, he still would have died for me... and he faced up to the awful truth of what sin is and what it does to the whole of Creation right there in the Garden of Gethsemane. And it was so horrible, it caused him to sweat blood.

2. What is your favourite Station of the Cross?
More difficult... I think if I had to choose one, it would have to be "Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus." In view of what Jesus was suffering, and what he still had to suffer, Veronica wiping his face must seem somewhat pointless. The immediate response, for a cynical soul like me is, "...And like that's gonna help like how, exactly?" And yet, the image of Our Lord's face was left on the veil. And the tradition of Veronica's veil was considered important enough to be passed on through the centuries. It's hugely encouraging: no matter how small and insignificant our actions, sacrifices, resolutions, no matter how much we feel that our protests against immorality and suchlike are ineffectual and feeble, Christ values each little effort made for his sake.

3. Do you fast during Lent?
Ummm... depends what you mean by "fast." If you mean "give up stuff you really like," then yes, I fast. If you mean fasting as in "Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting" then only Ash Wednesday and Good Friday... though my SD did happen to mention yesterday that fasting on bread and water on Fridays was a salutary exercise. *sighs* Ok, ok, I can take a hint...

4. What is your Lenten Resolution(s)?
I've got a few... Lent is about penance, prayer and almsgiving (twisted by the liberal brigade into the convenient lie, "you don't have to give something up, do something positive instead!" No, my wishy-washy friend, do something positive as well! And anyway, giving up things you enjoy as mastery over your physical desires and as spiritual training to resist sinful desires, as well as sacrifice for the love of God is something positive!!) I don't particularly want to go into full details, but giving up chocolate is one of my penances.

5. Do you use Holy Water during Lent?
Only for blessing myself, heheheh! St Teresa of Avila said that nothing was more effective at frightening off the devil when he came, and so it seems to be a peculiar suggestion not to use it... Hmmn, I wonder where that idea originated...

6. How many times do you go to Mass during Lent?
Every Saturday and Sunday, and during the school holidays, and every other day that I can manage to get to Mass.

Ok, who to tag next? So many of my fellow bloggers have reduced their blogging output for Lent... right, I tag Fr. Tim, Ttony and Northern Cleric.

UPDATE: Ashley is stuck on bedrest for a possible 12 more weeks... now that is definitely taking Lenten penance too far!! And so, to pass the time, I am adding her to my list of Tagees. Ttony and Northern Cleric have posted their memes... Fr. Tim is obviously too busy gloating over having passed the 100,000 visitor mark!! Enjoy!