Our New Lenten Tradition

by Beth P
(Omaha, NE)

For Lent, I wrote a nice long list of forty penances for the family to do on one color of paper. Then on another color of paper, I wrote a long list of prayers. Then, I cut up the slips of paper and put them in a basket. Each morning, one slip of paper is drawn for a penance and another slip is drawn for a prayer. You could even let the older children become involved with writing some of the prayers and penances, too.

Now, because my kids' ages vary from 13 down to four months, I came up with what I hope will be a nice variety for them all to do this Lent- well at least the older ones, anyway. Here are a few ideas to help you get started:

PENANCES:
*No tv for the day
*Using no salt for the day
*Choosing one (or more!) item to give to charity
*Performing an act of kindness anonymously
*Reading a chapter from the Bible
*No sweets for the day
*Making a mission rosary

PRAYER:
*Litany of Humility
*Chaplet of St. Anne
*Chaplet of St. Patrick
*Stations of the Cross
*Praying an extra rosary (we already try to pray the rosary daily)
*Divine Praises
*Memorare
*Anima Christi

As you can see, this is merely a small list just to get you thinking. For some, this list may seem too "light" for a Lenten penance, for others, maybe it seems too much. I think though, for my family it will be just right. I've tried in years past to help the kids keep track of their Lenten penances and it has always proven too difficult a task with so many children all trying to do different things, that very quickly, no one is doing any of the things they had wanted to try to do for Lent. This method, I hope, will help us all have a successful and very fruitful Lent! It was also very fun for me to assemble the list of prayers because there are so many, many in the Church that we are unfamiliar with.

I wish you a Holy and very fruitful Lent!

Beth