Course 4, Chapter 33: Christianity visible. — Ash- Wednesday. — Liturgy of Lent

1. What are the prayers of the forty hours?

They are solemn prayers, accompanied by the exposition of tlje blessed sacrament and other pious exercises. They commence on Quinquagesima-Sunday and continue till the following Tuesday included.

2. Why were they established?

1st, "to withdraw the faithful from theatres, balls and all the sinful extravagances of these days; 2d, to expiate the sins committed at that time; 3d, to prepare us for the holy time of Lent; 4th, to honor the forty hours which intervened between the condemnation of our Lord to death and his resurrection?

3. What is Ash- Wednesday?

It is the first day of the fast of Lent. On this day all the faithful should receive the ashes and consecrate themselves to penance?*

4. What should be our reflections when we receivi ihe ashes V

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386 CATECHISM OF PERSEVERANCE.

A. When we receive the ashes we must consider oui selves as sinners condemned to death, and we must excite ourselves to great compunction in order to obtain the pardon of our sins and a glorious resurrection.

5. What was done formerly on Ash- Wednesday?

It was on Ash- Wednesday that public penance was formerly imposed on sinners. The bishop put the ashes on their heads, and then with the foot of the cross drove them from the church, as God drove our first parents from the terrestrial paradise. These sinners remained separated from the faithful until Holy Thursday.

6. Was the penance imposed on them by the church severe?

It was very severe, lasting sometimes for twenty years; the penitents submitted humbly, in order to expiate their sins.

7. How must we expiate our sins?

We must expiate our sins by penance proportioned to their number and grievousness. To this the church exhorts us without ceasing during Lent, by giving us the most beautiful instructions to animate our confidence and make us enter into ourselves.

8. Where do we find these instructions?

We find them particularly in the Gospels foi Lent. The first Sunday the church shows us Jesus Christ in the desert praying and fasting; on the second she speaks to us of heaven, which will be the recompense of the truly penitent; on the third she depicts to us the unhappy state of sin, to induce us to quit it; on the fourth she holds up to our view the holy communion, in which we should all participate.