About Me

My photo
Life is tough. Nuns are tougher.

Thursday, February 07, 2013

The Little Big Books of Lent


I must say that the comments and ideas about a new group of Holy Helpers has just been excellent! Keep them coming! Maybe we can have a list by the time Lent starts.


Speaking of which, in an effort to finally be ahead of the curve, I want to give everyone a heads up that Ash Wednesday is next Wednesday. The countdown to Lent begins. Good bye, Ordinary Time.

You don't have to "give up something for Lent".  But you have to give up something for Lent.

You don't have to pick one thing to give up. You can give up things left and right. Take the more difficult path, put in the extra effort--find things that make you uncomfortable. Visiting the sick and infirm and your eyes are watering because the place smells so.....unpleasant? Stay longer. That sort of thing.

So we've gone the extra mile and compiled some of our favorite Lenten advice and admonishments (because what good is a nun if she doesn't scold you a little?) and we have a new set of booklets! We usually sell the booklets separately or as a set, but these four are only sold as a set, as information in one refers to comments in another.

There is advice about what to give up, what not to give up, why we give things up, why we have Mc
Donald's fish sandwiches and what goes on during Holy Week.

We started with LENT, which explains the reason for the season and a guide on giving things up. Then we compiled REVERSE LENT, which explains what not to give up, sort of. It also includes the story of St. Jonas Hubahem, who wins the prize when it comes to suffering. We gathered up the questions we had about all of this for THERE IS NO CASUAL JESUS and finally we walk you through what goes on during HOLY WEEK.

We do it all ourselves, the editting and layout, the printing and collating. We even have a special stapler! It's very long to reach across the page and staple the pages together in the middle without making a wrinkled mess.

Nuns do not like wrinkles, except on faces. And those weird dogs.

6 comments:

Maureen said...

No points for Giving Up Fish Sandwiches this year - I remember your dose of Food Poisoning.......

Katney said...

I have one of those staplers. Very useful.

Muffy's Marks said...

My friend has been giving up candy for lent since she was a little girl, she's 60 now. Do you think she will go to heaven?

Anonymous said...

@ Muffy Marks:Although her sacrifice is certainly very commendable :) I rely on 1 Corinthians 13 which begs the question..is self mortification or sacrifice meaningful if charity/love is not the inspiration?

Gigi said...

It occurred to me a while ago now that I give up the usual cakes, biscuits, muffins, chocolate bars etc in full knowledge that I love my cheese and oatcakes, my berries, my rice pud...
You're right; my rather more adult approach should be not to focus on paying lip-service to giving something p, bu actually giving more: doing more of something that takes me out of my comfort zone.
Tsk - you nuns! :) x

Anonymous said...

Sister,
I think I know the answer to my question, but maybe I need confirmation of it so I can feel confident about it. I have a major degenerative disease that affects my digestive tract. A month ago I had about 3 feet of my colon removed. I'm still recovering from this surgery. My doctor has told me to eat lightly of roughage and heavily of more nutrient-dense foods, like meat, eggs, milk, etc. Do I qualify for the fasting exemptions during Lent? I know that even if I do, I still need to find a way to fast that doesn't involve food. Any suggestions are welcome.
Thank you!
Sarah