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First of all--what is Lent?
Lent is a time of year, primarily for Catholics. During Lent, we do 3 main things:
Fasting
Almsgiving
Prayer
What do these have to do with Lent?
What a wonderful question! I'm glad you asked...well...let me break it down.
Fasting
For fasting, us Catholics have some serious sacrifices to make.
We must follow these very strict rules during Lent:
Small breakfasts
Small lunches
Normal dinners
Absolutely no snacks {this includes dessert unu}
This is rather difficult to follow sometimes, but of course, we manage.
Almsgiving
Another word for almsgiving is charity.
Overall, I'd say this is basically the most simple component that is very self-explanatory.
Basically, as a Catholic, this is most likely the quickest thing to do--but of course the most expensive {as all of the other components of Lent are, well, free}.
Prayer
Prayer may not seem too difficult, but most Catholics pray on a regular basis anyway.
Hence, we have to do some extra special prayer for Lent. What I do on any other regular night before bed is read, turn off the lights, try to relax and pray.
During Lent, what I try to do for prayer is pray in the morning and in the evening. Every so often I also do a special prayer, like an Our Father or a Hail Mary.
𝕆𝕜𝕒𝕪, 𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕒𝕤 𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕥, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕦𝕒𝕝 𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕒𝕤:
1. 40 days without sweets*
Sweets are a great think to give up. You may think it's a big sacrifice--and it is! That's exactly why it's such a great thing to do.
2. 40 days without television, phones or other electronics
Many many many--well, too many--people are addicted to TV and other screens. I probably sound like some obnoxious parent but don't lie to yourself. You're probably addicted to your phone or iPad.
3. Throw away 40 things for 40 days
We all have things we don't need. If you are a little bit older {like a teen}, and still have things from when you were a kid, do some almost-Spring cleaning!
4. 40 days of No Gossiping
Guess what? You gossip a LOT more than you thought you did? Remember how the other day you said, "Remember dinner last night at the restaurant? Those kids at the other table were so loud and annoying. You'd think their mother would think about the rest of us."? Yeah, well it's the little things like that that add up to many people knowing, and people's feelings getting hurt. Try cutting back on that...you'd be surprised how rude we are, and how often.
5. 400 minutes of prayer
'Wawa--are you kidding me? 400 minutes of prayer?! That's insane.' Think about it--10 minutes a day at the end of the day just thanking God for your health, shelter, food, family, friends, and everything that happened can connect you so much more with him! 10 minutes a day for 40 days, in total is 400 minutes!
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