Crux Fidelis! (O Faithful Cross!)

Lent is upon us once again.

Attached is a little instruction on fasting and abstinence.

Keep to the tradition of the Church.

In the mysterious book of the Bible, the Canticle of Canticles, we find the trajectory of how God works with souls. It is seen in the repeated use of verbs having the first person pronoun as the their object or indirect object.

Thus,

“Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth …”

“Draw me: we will run after thee to the odour of thy ointments” (1:3).

“Show me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest…” (1:6).

Kiss Me, Draw Me, Show Me.

bring me into the wine cellar and put charity in order in me (cf. 2:4).

“Stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples: because I languish with love” (2:5).

“His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me” (2:6),

“Behold my beloved speaketh to me:

Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come” (2:10),

“show me thy face, let thy voice sound in my ears:

for thy voice is sweet, and thy face comely” (2:14).

Embrace me, speak to me, show me thy Face…

“Catch us the little foxes that destroy the vines: for our vineyard hath flourished” (2:15).

Catch us… catch in me… the little foxes that block this loving union!

Here is the purpose of Lent summarized!

We are offered a deeper union with His Majesty…

but only if we go out in the desert and catch the little foxes inside our souls that diminish and destroy our virtues… and prevent divine union.

“The observance of Lent is the very badge of the Christian warfare. By it we prove ourselves not to be enemies of Christ. By it we avert the scourges of divine justice. By it we gain strength against the princes of darkness, for it shields us with heavenly help. Should mankind grow remiss in their observance of Lent, it would be a detriment to God’s glory, a disgrace to the Catholic religion, and a danger to Christian souls. Neither can it be doubted that such negligence would become the source of misery to the world, of public calamity, and of private woe.”—Pope Benedict XIV