2 - Lent Season

Lent

- Opportunity to clean up the inner mess and fix our lives and our relationship with God and neighbor

Purple

- Liturgical color for Lent, symbol of penance, royalty, sorrow, and mourning

Sundays

- are not counted in the 40-day count of celebration because Sundays are days of celebration, commemorating Christ’s resurrection

Passion of Christ

- climax of Lent

Ash Wednesday

- Reminds us that life is fragile and that one must be ready to face our creator; reminds us that we are all sinners

- We are called to die to sin and return to God wholeheartedly

- Start of Lent Season

- “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return

Holy Saturday

- Day of quiet reflection

- Final day of Holy Week and Lent

- No sacraments are celebrated on this say except for Confession and Anointing of the Sick

Black Saturday

- other name for Holy Saturday

Altar

- remains bare and Mass is not celebrated until the evening

Easter Vigil

- Joyful night liturgy that transitions into Easter Sunday

- Takes place on the night of Holy Saturday

- Considered the most important liturgy of the Christian year, marking the official beginning of Easter and celebration of Christ’s Resurrection

40 Days

- This number holds deep biblical and spiritual significance, representing a period of testing, preparation, purification, and renewal in both Old and new Testaments

Prayer

- Way to grow closer to God, seek forgiveness, and reflect on Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection

- Helps believers prepare their hearts for Easter

Fasting

- Based on Jesus’ 40 days of fasting in the desert before beginning His ministry in a way to imitate His sacrifice, turn away from sin, and deepen spiritual awareness

- Not just about giving up something but making room for God

Traditional Fasting

- eating only one full meal a day with two smaller meals that do not add up to a full meal

- drinking only water, herbal tea, or simple liquids

Personal Fasting

- giving up sweets, soda, or coffee and avoiding junk food, alcohol, or social media, and limiting screen time

Spiritual Fasting

- giving up gossip, negativity, or unnecessary complaining and replacing distractions with prayer or reading the Bible while practicing patience and kindness in difficult situations

Almsgiving

- Giving to those in need through money, goods, time, or acts of kindness, reflecting Jesus’ teachings

- Opportunity to share what we have, just as Christ gave everything for us

Senakulo

- Traditional Passion Play performed during Holy Week, dramatizing the life, suffering, and death of Jesus Christ

- Started during the Spanish colonization because they brought Christianity to the Philippines, originally a way to teach Biblical stories to Filipinos through theater and story telling

- Evolved into a cultural and religious event performed in various communities

Cenacle

- meaning upper room, referring to the Last Supper was held

Pabasa ng Pasyon

- Traditional Filipino Lenten devotion where the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ are chanted or sung in a continuous manner

- Usually done during Holy Week on Maundy Thursdays and Good Friday

- Way of reflecting on Christ’s sacrifice while preserving Filipino oral traditions

Traditional Senakulo

- Week-long play performed on a stage in town plazas, barangay halls, or churches, where actors recite long poetic lines in old Tagalog

Modern Senakulo

- Shorter version using contemporary language, music, and multimedia effects, performed in theaters or open-air venues

Street Senakulo

- ‘Kalbaryo’

- Actors perform in public places moving from one location to another similar to a procession