Lenten Reflections

Journey through Lent with Blessed Karl of Austria in short daily reflections that unite his witness, sacrifice, and hope to your own path toward Easter.

40 Days

Lent is a forty-day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and prepares us for the joy of Easter. Through Sacred Scripture, acts of charity, and self-denial, we are called to a true conversion of heart and to the renewal of the new life we received in Baptism, where we were united to Christ’s death and raised from sin.

Beyond the familiar practice of abstaining from meat on Fridays, Lent invites a deeper spirit of fasting that turns us more fully toward God. Almsgiving becomes a sharing in His generosity through the gift of our resources, our time, and our care for those in need. As St. John Chrysostom reminds us: “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2446).

Resources

  • Wednesday, February 18 - Thursday, April 2, 2026

  • "For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy."  -St. Therese of Lisieux (CCC 2558)

    During Lent, we are asked to devote ourselves to seeking the Lord in prayer and reading Scripture, to service by giving alms, and to practice self-control through fasting. Dive into God's word in Scripture this Lent or pray the rosary with your family.

  • Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence.

    For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards.

    Members of the Eastern Catholic Churches are to observe the particular law of their own sui iuris Church.

    If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on Holy Saturday night) as the "paschal fast" to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily his Resurrection.

  • The foundational call of Christians to charity is a frequent theme of the Gospels.  During Lent, we are asked to focus more intently on "almsgiving," which means donating money or goods to the poor and performing other acts of charity.  As one of the three pillars of Lenten practice, almsgiving is "a witness to fraternal charity" and  "a work of justice pleasing to God." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2462).

  • Rome’s Station Churches are an ancient Lenten tradition in which the faithful gather each day at a different church for Mass and prayer, walking in pilgrimage through the city to basilicas and shrines rich in the memory of the martyrs.

    Though most of us are not able to travel to Rome, we can still take part in this practice spiritually. By following the daily stations in prayer, we unite ourselves with the Church of Rome and with Catholics throughout the world, making our own Lenten journey in communion with the Church universal as we move toward Easter.

    Click for a full listing of Churches and more information on this ancient tradition.