‘Give alms…Pray to your Father…Fast without a gloomy face…’ (Matthew 6:1-18)

There are 3 pillars of Lent: Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving.

During Lent, we are called to get closer to God and the Pillars of Lent help us to do just that.

Prayer–when we pray, we let God know we believe in Him. When we pray we learn to feel God’s love in our hearts.

Fasting— Fasting takes a lot of effort and dedication as we offer up to Our Lord the food we’re not eating. Perhaps you’ve decided to sacrifice eating snacks between meals or giving up a favourite treat. Fasting is difficult for everyone but is one way

Almsgiving–We are encouraged to do charitable acts every day and to pay attention to the needs of others.

We hope to approach Easter Sunday with hearts overflowing with love for God.

The students worked in their teams to create tableau (frozen picture) demonstrating what the 3 Pillars of Lent looks like. Check out some of their work:

Today marks the beginning of Lent–a season of fasting and prayer. It is Ash Wednesday and we received ashes on our foreheads to show that we are sinners and are looking to repent. The ashes symbolize the dust from which God made us. The ashes come from the burnt palms from last year’s Palm Sunday.

Ash Wednesday begins about 40 days before Easter. We are asked to do 3 things during this Lenten season:

• Fast
• Pray
• Give alms

Have a look at this video to get a quick overview of Lent and Ash Wednesday.

Shrove Tuesday is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday which is the first day of Lent. It’s a day of penitence, to clean the soul, and a day of celebration as the last chance to feast before Lent begins.

Lent is a time of abstinence, of giving things up. So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren’t allowed in Lent. Historically, in the old days there were many foods that Christians would not eat during Lent such as meat and fish, fats, eggs, and milky foods. So families wouldn’t be wasteful, they would have a feast on the shriving Tuesday, and eat up all the foods that would go bad over the next 40 days.

Pancakes became associated with Shrove Tuesday because they were a dish that could use up all the eggs, fats and milk in the house with just the addition of flour.

It has been said that Francis of Assisi created the very first Christmas nativity scene in AD 1223 after a trip to the Holy Land and Christ’s birthplace. Today, around the world, Nativity scenes are displayed in front of Churches, in people’s homes, and in many other places.

The word nativity is taken from the Latin nativus, which means “arisen by birth.” A nativity scene is a representation of the night of Jesus’ birth as depicted in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

This past week, our students created a simple version of a nativity scene using a clementine box, raffia, burlap, and paper characters including baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, an angel, 3 wisemen and some animals.

Do you have a nativity scene in your home? If so, where is it located?

Today began with a special Mass dedicated to St. Nicholas. Mrs. Hollis’ class did a fabulous job leading our school. So, who was St. Nicholas? He was a historical figure whose story begins in a town called Myra (Turkey). When St. Nicholas’ parents died, Nicholas used his whole inheritance to help the sick, poor, and those suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to those in need and his love for children. He died December 6, AD 343 in Myra. His gift-giving gave rise to who we now call Santa Clause (St.Nick)

We celebrated the Feast Day with hot chocolate and cookies. A big thank you to all of the parents who organized the treats for us today. We are grateful!