EWTN Holy Week Press Release

EWTN’s Holy Week Schedule 

Irondale, AL (EWTN) – EWTN Global Catholic Network is here for you during and after the coronavirus pandemic with Masses and other devotions – especially as we prepare to enter the most important week of the year: Holy Week and Easter. The following is the schedule of Masses and a few important devotions. Please click EWTN Holy Week Schedule for the complete listing of events. (Note: Events are subject to change. Please check our schedule at the link above for updates.)

 Events on EWTN can be viewed on television, online, via the free EWTN app, and more. For all the many ways to access EWTN, please go to https://www.ewtn.com/everywhere/online 

Holy Thursday:

• Chrism Mass in Rome with Pope Francis: Airs 3:30 a.m. ET and 8 a.m. ET
• Solemn Mass of the Lord’s Supper From Rome: 11 a.m. ET
• Choral Meditations and Solemn Mass of the Lord’s Supper: 5:30 p.m. ET, live from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
• Mass of the Lord’s Supper: 10:30 p.m. ET, live from Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA.

              Good Friday:

• Walk the Way of the Cross: San Giovanni Rotondo: 10 a.m. ET
• St. Faustina’s Way of the Cross at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy: 2 p.m. ET

• Choral Meditations and Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion: 2:30 p.m. ET and 6 p.m. ET, live from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

• Way of the Cross From Rome: 8 p.m. ET
• Celebration of the Lord’s Passion from Rome: Live at 11 a.m. ET and Midnight ET

Holy Saturday:

• Way of the Cross From Rome: 5:30 a.m. ET
• Easter Vigil Mass From Rome: 2:30 p.m. ET
• Easter Vigil Mass: 8 p.m. ET, from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
• Easter Vigil Mass: 11 p.m. ET, live from Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA. (3 hours)

Easter Sunday:

• Solemn Mass of Easter Sunday From Rome: 4 a.m. ET (120 min.)
• Urbi Et Orbi: Message and Blessing - Easter: 6 a.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET
• Sunday Mass: 8 a.m. ET and Midnight ET, from Our Lady of the Angels Chapel in Irondale, AL with the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word. (80 min.)
• Easter Sunday Mass: Noon ET, from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. (90 min.)
• Louisville Chorus - In Exaltation: 1:30 p.m. ET and 11:30 p.m. ET
• Sunday Vespers With Benediction: 6 p.m. ET, from Our Lady of the Angels Chapel with the Franciscan Friars of the Eternal Word.
• Solemn Mass of Easter Sunday from Rome: 7 p.m. ET

         EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 38th year, is the largest religious media network in the world. EWTN’s 11 global TV channels are broadcast in multiple languages 24 hours a day, seven days a week to over 350 million television households in more than 145 countries and territories. EWTN platforms also include radio services transmitted through SIRIUS/XM, iHeart Radio, and over 500 domestic and international AM & FM radio affiliates; a worldwide shortwave radio service; one of the largest Catholic websites in the U.S.; electronic and print news services, including Catholic News Agency, “The National Catholic Register” newspaper, and several global news wire services; as well as EWTN Publishing, its book publishing division.

EWTN Introduces Radio Essentials

Introducing EWTN Radio Essentials

A Spiritual Powerhouse for Listeners in this Difficult Time

Irondale, AL (EWTN) – EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network announces the launch of EWTN Radio Essentials.

“To assist listeners struggling to cope with the closing of so many churches due to the coronavirus pandemic, EWTN has temporarily transformed EWTN Radio Classics into EWTN Radio Essentials, a one-stop source for Mass and devotions,” said EWTN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael P. Warsaw. “On this channel, listeners will have the opportunity hear Mass eight times per day beginning at 8 a.m. ET. As people of faith know, prayer is what will get us all through this difficult time.”

Between Masses, listeners can join in various devotions, such as the Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the Angelus, St. Michael’s Chaplet, and more. The schedule also includes programs featuring the wisdom of spiritual icons like Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Father Groeschel, Fr. Andrew Apostoli, Fr. George Rutler, and, of course, Mother Angelica.

You can find both EWTN Global Catholic Radio and EWTN Radio Essentials by downloading the EWTN app and clicking on “Live Streams” and then scrolling down to either “Listen Live – EWTN Radio” or “Listen Live – Radio Essentials.” Alternatively, you can access the channel online, by going to www.ewtn.com, clicking on Radio at the top of the page, then “Listen Live,” and finally click on “United States” where you will see a drop-down menu with “Radio Essentials.”

EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 38th year, is the largest religious media network in the world. EWTN’s 11 global TV channels are broadcast in multiple languages 24 hours a day, seven days a week to over 300 million television households in more than 145 countries and territories. EWTN platforms also include radio services transmitted through SIRIUS/XM, iHeart Radio, and over 500 domestic and international AM & FM radio affiliates; a worldwide shortwave radio service; one of the largest Catholic websites in the U.S.; electronic and print news services, including Catholic News Agency, “The National Catholic Register” newspaper, and several global news wire services; as well as EWTN Publishing, its book publishing division.

EWTN Press Release: Statement On Appointment of Bishop Steven J. Raica as Bishop of Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama

EWTN Statement On Appointment of

Bishop Steven J. Raica as Bishop of Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama

Irondale, AL (EWTN) –  Below is the statement by Michael P. Warsaw, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EWTN Global Catholic Network, on the appointment of Bishop Steven J. Raica as Bishop of the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama:

“Today’s announcement of the appointment of Bishop Steven J. Raica as the fifth Bishop of Birmingham in Alabama comes as very good news in a very difficult time.  I congratulate Bishop Raica on his appointment.  I also look forward to welcoming him to our EWTN campus in Irondale and sharing with him the great work of evangelization that EWTN is doing around the world.  I want to assure Bishop Raica of our prayers and support for him as he assumes his new ministry in the Diocese of Birmingham.”

EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 38th year, is the largest religious media network in the world. EWTN’s 11 global TV channels are broadcast in multiple languages 24 hours a day, seven days a week to over 300 million television households in more than 145 countries and territories. EWTN platforms also include radio services transmitted through SIRIUS/XM, iHeart Radio, and over 500 domestic and international AM & FM radio affiliates; a worldwide shortwave radio service; one of the largest Catholic websites in the U.S.; electronic and print news services, including Catholic News Agency, “The National Catholic Register” newspaper, and several global news wire services; as well as EWTN Publishing, its book publishing division. 

EWTN Press Release: Looking For Mass And Adoration? EWTN Is There For You

Looking For Mass And Adoration? EWTN Is There For You

Irondale, AL (EWTN) – As the coronavirus outbreak affects an increasing number of people around the world, many dioceses and parishes have taken the extraordinary measure of cancelling the celebration of public Masses. In other cases, they have dispensed the elderly and those with health issues from their Sunday obligation.

"During this extraordinary time in which people around the world are experiencing so much fear and anxiety, I invite Catholics and people around the world to tune into EWTN for live broadcasts of the Mass at 8 a.m. ET every day from Our Lady of the Angels Chapel in Irondale, Alabama," said EWTN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael P. Warsaw. [Encores air at noon ET, 7 p.m. ET, and midnight ET]. "The mission of EWTN is to bring the light of Christ to a world starved for Truth. My prayer is that, during these dark days, people will be able to find hope through our programming."

Watch on TV or streaming live here. Missed the live stream? Get today's daily readings and homily at this link.

The Mass can also be heard via EWTN's radio affiliates, on SIRIUS/XM Channel #130, online at this link, and live on EWTN's Facebook page at 8 a.m. ET here.

Click here to quickly discover the channel on which to find EWTN on your local cable or satellite provider, and here to find the television schedule. Note: While on the aforementioned television schedule link, viewers outside the U.S. should click on "United States" to see a drop down menu of EWTN's TV schedules via satellites around the world. Click here to find the EWTN Radio schedule.

In addition to the Mass, EWTN has begun offering viewers the opportunity for Adoration of Our Lord, both on-air and on social media, via a live feed from Our Lady of the Angels Chapel in Irondale. In the U.S., adoration will immediately follow the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at approximately 3:20 p.m. ET and remain on-air for about 10 minutes. However, viewers can adore Our Lord from 8 a.m. ET (just after daily Mass) to 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, via EWTN’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ewtnonline

For all of the myriad ways to access EWTN, please go to EWTN Everywhere. Our family of news and social media sites includes EWTN's Facebook page, which frequently broadcasts various programs, including the Mass and other devotionals, as well as links to other helpful resources.

Editor's Note: Dioceses or parishes who would like to share EWTN’s daily Mass on their Facebook page are welcome to send an email with this request to dcowden@ewtn.com. We will be happy to set up a crossposting relationship. Diocesan Communications Directors who would like to embed an EWTN player on their websites in order to stream Daily Mass should contact their respective EWTN Marketing Manager or twenzel@ewtn.com.

EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 38th year, is the largest religious media network in the world. EWTN’s 11 global TV channels are broadcast in multiple languages 24 hours a day, seven days a week to over 300 million television households in more than 145 countries and territories. EWTN platforms also include radio services transmitted through SIRIUS/XM, iHeart Radio, and over 500 domestic and international AM & FM radio affiliates; a worldwide shortwave radio service; one of the largest Catholic websites in the U.S.; electronic and print news services, including Catholic News Agency, “The National Catholic Register” newspaper, and several global news wire services; as well as EWTN Publishing, its book publishing division.

Saint Joseph

March 19th - Patron of the Universal Church 

St. Joseph, the pure spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster father of our Blessed Lord, was descended from the royal house of David. He is the "just man" of the New Testament, the lowly village carpenter of Nazareth, who among all men of the world was the one chosen by God to be the husband and protector of the Virgin Mother of Jesus Christ, God Incarnate. To his faithful, loving care was entrusted the childhood and youth of the Redeemer of the world.

After the Mother of God, not one of the children of men was ever so gifted and adorned with natural and supernatural virtues as was St. Joseph, her spouse. In purity of heart, in chastity of life, in humility, patience, fortitude, gentleness and manliness of character, he reveals to us the perfect type and model of the true Christian.

Poor and obscure in this world's possessions and honors, he was rich in grace and merit, and eminent before God in the nobility and beauty of holiness. Because St. Joseph was the representative of the Eternal Father on earth, the divinely appointed head of the Holy Family, which was the beginning of the great Family of God, the Church of Christ, on December 8, 1870, the Vicar of Jesus Christ, Pope Pius IX solemnly proclaimed the foster father of Jesus, Patron of the Universal Church, and from that time his feast has been celebrated on March 19th as a feast of high rank. In some places it is observed as a holy day of obligation.

Devotion to St. Joseph, fervent in the East from the early ages, has in later times spread and increased in such a marvelous way that in our day the Catholics of all nations vie with one another in honoring him. Besides the feast of March 19th there is another feast called the "Patronage of St. Joseph", which is celebrated in the more joyous Easter time. It was formerly observed on the third Sunday after Easter, but it is now celebrated with the octave on the Wednesday before the third Sunday after Easter, and its title is "The Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Patron of the Universal Church."

From his throne of glory in heaven, St. Joseph watches over and protects the Church militant, and no one who calls on him in need ever calls in vain. He is the model of a perfect Christian life and the patron of a happy death. His patronage extends over the Mystical Body of Christ, over the Christian family, the Christian school, and all individuals who in their need appeal to his charity and powerful intercession, especially in the hour of death; for he who, when dying, received the affectionate ministry of his foster Son, Jesus, and his Virgin spouse, Mary, may well be invoked and trusted to obtain for us poor sinners the mercy of God and the grace of a peaceful and holy death.

Prayer: We beseech You, O Lord, that we may be assisted by the merits of the Spouse of Your Most Holy Mother, so that what we cannot obtain by our own power may be given to us through his intercession. Amen. 


Source: "Lives...of the Saints; for every day of the year", Catholic Book Publishing Co., New York, June 1, 1955.

Saint Patrick's Day prayer

God bless you all this Saint Patrick's Day.🍀


In Christ, 

Julie 

Notice to Catholics from the Diocese of Norwich, CT

Reposted from: https://www.norwichdiocese.org/Stay-Informed/All-Diocesan-Articles/ID/3084/General-Dispensation-Granted-and-Precautions-Taken-in-Response-to-COVID-19coronavirus 

General Dispensation Granted and Precautions Taken in Response to COVID-19(coronavirus)

 Posted on March 12, 2020 in: News

The following is a summarized version of a letter emailed to the clergy of the Diocese on Monday March 9th. 

In light of the general concern about the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus), Bishop Michael R. Cote has granted a general dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass for those who are ill or experiencing symptoms of illness. Anyone experiencing symptoms are not obliged to attend Mass, and out of charity they ought not attend. 

As a reminder, the precautionary measures that were put in place at the beginning of the flu season are still in effect.

• The Sign of Peace and the distribution of the Precious Blood are suspended until further notice. 

• Communicants may be encouraged to receive in their hands rather than on the tongue. However, as has been made clear by the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments in its Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum (25 March, 2004) “each of the faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue” (n. 92)

Public Masses ARE NOT being cancelled at this time

Bishop Cote has asked that you join him in praying for an end to this illness around the world as well as for those who are suffering with it.

Should you have any questions regarding these precautions at Mass or other parish events please speak with your pastor.

The Diocese of Norwich is continually monitoring this developing situation, consulting with health care professionals and experts when appropriate. We will update you as changes warrant. 

1896 Goffine's Devout Instructions: The Holy Ghost

Holy Ghost – Holy Spirit 

Why is the Holy Ghost called a spirit, and the Holy Spirit?

Because He proceeds from the Father and the Son, and is as it were, the Spirit of the Father and the Son. 

What does the Holy Ghost effect in men?

He renews their hearts, by cleansing them from sin, by imparting to them the sanctification and likeness to God gained through Christ, together with all these supernatural gifts and graces by which they can become holy and happy, and bring forth in them wonderful fruits of sanctity. 

Which are these gifts of the Holy Ghost? 

The seven following:
1) The gift of wisdom, which teaches us to value the heavenly more than the earthly, infuses in to us a longing for the same, and points out to us the right means to salvation.

2) The gift of understanding, which enlightens us to rightly understand the mysteries and doctrines of our holy religion.

3) The gift of counsel in doubtful cases, which enables us to know what to do or omit, and what to advise others. This gift is particularly necessary for superiors, for those who are changing their state of life, and for those who are entangled in perplexing and unfortunate marriage relations.

4) The gift of fortitude, which banishes all timidity and human respect, strengthens a man to hate sin, and steadfastly to practice virtue; preferring contempt, temporal loss, persecution, and even death, to denying Christ by word or deed.

5) The gift of knowledge, by which the Holy Ghost enlightens us with an inner light, that we may know ourselves, the snares of self-love, of our passions, of the devil, and of the world, any may choose the fittest means to overcome them.

6) The gift of piety and devotion, which infuses into us veneration for God and divine things, and joy in conversing with Him.

7) The gift of the fear of God, that childlike fear, which dreads no other misfortune than that of displeasing God, and which accordingly flees sin as the greatest evil.


Source: Goffine’s Devout Instructions, page 242-243, Copyright, 1896 by the Benziger Brothers, New York.


In Christ, 

Julie 

Cardinal Burke in Connecticut Tomorrow and more...

Raymond Cardinal Burke will be celebrating a Pontifical Requiem Mass at the Basilica of St. John the Evangelist in Stamford CT on Saturday March 7,  to commemorate the death of Ignatius Cardinal Kung Pin-Mei, the great champion of the persecuted Catholic Church in China.  

This Mass is sponsored by the Cardinal Kung Foundation ( http://www.cardinalkungfoundation.org)

Cardinal Burke will also be at St. Mary Church in Greenwich on the following day, March 8 at 3 pm for Rosary and Benediction.

--------------------------------------
2nd Event 

Join Dan Burke for an Into the Deep Lenten mini-retreat to discover the depths of prayer. All are welcome at St. Francis Catholic Church (1755 Stanley St. New Britain, CT 06053) from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM on Saturday, March 21st. Mass will begin at 8:00 AM and registration is at 8:30 AM. Light breakfast and snacks provided. Register at Avila-Institute.org/events for the $20 early bird special! Register after March 1, 2020 and the cost is $25 per ticket or $30 at the door.

See you on Saturday, March 21, 2020!

Here is the active online registration link:

https://avila-institute.org/product/into-the-deep-new-britain-ct-march-21-2020/

Or,  Avila-Institute.org/Events ;

++++
Paul A. Zalonski
Catholic Connecticut
255 Foxon Hill Road
East Haven, CT 06513-1216 USA

Email Paul: CatholicCT@gmail.com
Follow Paul on Twitter @CatholicCT

Connect on Facebook "Catholic Connecticut CatholicCT"
***

From 1910 The Rosary

Saint Dominic Institutes the Rosary 

"The Rosary.  There is no devotion not connected wit the Liturgy or Office of the Church which has been more widely extended, or been taken up, age after age, by persons of every rank and station than the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin.  In its present form it was instituted by the great Saint Dominic de Guzman, the founder of the Order of Friars Preachers.  But grew out of a devotion older than Christianity, and a mode of prayer that dates back to a very early period.  The Psalms of David were in constant use as prayers among the Jews; the primitive Christians adopted them, and the pious, as well as all who, as hermits or monks, sought religious perfection, recited the whole hundred and fifty psalms daily.  Of this there are constant proofs in the early ages.  Some, who could not read and were too dull to remember so much, were allowed to recite, instead, the Lord’s Prayer the same number of times; later, the Angelical Salutation was substituted for the Lord’s Prayer.  To keep the record of these prayers, belts or strings of beads were used; in fact, our word bead is from the same source as the German beten, and means to pray. 

That the mind should not be unoccupied during the recital of these prayers, the Life of our Lord and His Blessed Mother was commended as a matter of meditation.  Saint Dominic divided the hundred and fifty beads into three parts, each containing five decades of ten beads, and assigned to each part five mysteries of the life of our Lord.  The Joyful Mysteries were the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity of our Lord, His Presentation in the Temple, and His Finding in the Temple.  The Sorrowful Mysteries, forming the second part, included His Bloody Sweat, His Scourging, His Crowning with Thorns, the Carriage of the Cross, His Crucifixion.  The Glorious Mysteries, which were the subject of the third part, were the Resurrection of the Lord, His Ascension, the Descent of the Holy Ghost, His Assumption of His Blessed Mother into Heaven, and her Coronation.  The division was simple, easily grasped, full of pious thought, and kept before the people the chief events in the history of our Redemption.  It became the general devotion in all countries of Europe, and the rosary was said by all, from the king of his throne to the leper and the beggar. 

The full fifteen decades form a rosary; that the general use called a chaplet or pair of beads, consists of five decades, each of a large bead for the Our Father and ten smaller ones for the Hail Marys; where the ends join, the chain is continued by three small beads and two larger, a crucifix or medal being attached to the end.  These are for the introductory prayers, the Creed, Our Father, and three Hail Marys, with a Glory be to the Father, etc.  These form no part of the rosary properly so called. 

It is usual, when the rosary is said in public, to call the several mysteries to mind by a few preliminary words.  When the rosary is said with others, a leader or person saying it, who need not even be a cleric, recites half of each prayer, and the rest recite the other half.  After the five decades are said, it is usual to sing or recite the Litany of the Blessed Virgin. 

Saint Dominic, who had labored almost in vain to convert the Albigenses, had no sooner introduced this devotion than a change was at once seen.  Hearts that no arguments could move were attracted by this devotion; the work of conversion was rapid.  St. Dominic reaped a harvest of souls, and the Blessed Virgin a harvest of glory. 

From that day to this the devotion of the rosary has never lost its hold on the affections of the faithful.  It became the prayer in which they were gathered together for general particular wants.  When Europe was menaced by the Turks the rosary was said with fervor, and while the Sodality of the Rosary were walking in solemn procession through the streets of Rome, praying for victory of the Christian army, the battle was raging at Lepanto, October 7, 1571, and the Turkish power on the seas was broken forever.  It was not the band of men that broke the power which had so long threatened Europe; it was the hand of God, put forth in answer to the prayers of the Confraternity of the Rosary. 

The reigning Pontiff, St. Pius V., in gratitude for so signal a favor, ordered the first Sunday in October to be observed as an annual commemoration in the Church of St. Mary of Victory; this feast was extended to other churches and countries by other Popes, till at last, after another victory, Clement XI., in 1716, made the Festival of the Rosary a feast for the Universal Church. 

There are few devotions to which the Holy See has granted so many indulgences as to the rosary: one hundred days for each Our Father and Hail Mary, and a plenary indulgence once a year to those who approach the Sacrament of Penance, receive Holy Communion, and pray for the wants of the Church.  To gain these indulgences, the beads must be blessed by a priest who has received faculties from the Pope, and the person must say the rosary, meditating on the mystery assigned to each decade. 

Besides the Confraternity of the Rosary, another has been established in this century.  This is the Confraternity of the Living Rosary.  In this, five persons are associated, each saying one decade each day, so that the five say the whole chaplet; two similar beads, with them, will thus recite the whole rosary daily.  This is called the Living Rosary, and the fruits produced by it have been so great and manifest, that the holy Fathers have enriched it with my indulgences. 

Nothing should deter Catholics from adhering to a devotion so holy, so consoling.  Many, indeed, think it one of the ignorant only; but this is a grave error.  Mediation on the life of our Lord is something to occupy the most exalted and the most cultivated minds, and give them light and strength.  The example of officers in the army and navy, who faithfully adhered to this pious practice, would alone suffice to show that the greatest ability and learning are found among the faithful adherents to this devotion, which is, in itself, an almost certain test of real Christianity."  

Source: The Catholic Instructor: An Educational Library of Ready Reference [pages 513-515] Published by the Office of Catholic Publications 1910 – Imprimatur Johannes M. Farley, D.D., Archiepiscopus – New York, May 16, 1910 


In Christ, 

Julie

1910 Lent: the Necessity and Benefits of Fasting and Abstinence

“Except you do penance, you shall all likewise perish.” – St. Luke xiii.5. 

"Lent is a time of penance and prayer, established by the Church as a preparation for the feast of Easter. Lent lasts forty days; and is on that account called also the holy quadragesima. During this time the Church obliges us to observe abstinence and fasting, so as to honor and imitate the fasting of our Lord, who passed forty days and forty nights in the desert, without tasting food, beginning thus the painful penance he came to perform on earth, for the redemption of our sins. My children, by fasting we deprive ourselves of part of our food, by abstinence we refrain from partaking of anything in the shape of flesh-meat. These practices have been for centuries considered as most approaching the spirit of penance; and you no doubt remember that in olden times the Ninevites tried, by ordering a public fast, to avert the wrath of God from their city. 

During the early ages of the Church, Christians used frequently to fast, some did so all the year round; and now there still exist holy monks who practice fasting and abstinence with the same severity. 

In our days, on the contrary, my children, generally speaking, these rules of the Church are not strictly observed; though we are all still in the same great need of penance, and the Church, in its indulgence, has made the accomplishment of this duty much less difficult than it formally was. Then, only one single meal was taken during the twenty-four hours; now it is allowed to add what is called the collation, which is a second meal, but a very light one.

Abstinence binds children above seven years of age; but the law of fasting is not imposed on children who are in need of very substantial food. But at the age of twenty-one, you will be subjected to it, and even then, if your health be delicate, you can obtain a dispensation from your confessor or the Priest of your parish. And on this point, let me tell you, my children, that you have no right to judge the motives which may lead your parents and persons who surround you to fall short in the fulfillment of these duties of fasting and abstinence. On this, you must make no reflections; you must merely make up your minds that when you are older, you will obey, to the utmost of your power, every commandment of the Church. 

For the present, young as you are, it is already your duty, to do penance of some kind, during Lent, for your sins; God frees no one from this obligation, not even children of your age. Do not let this thought alarm you; God does not ask you to do anything very difficult, and to you penance will not be very trying. When you have offended your mother, you have no great difficulty, I suppose, in showing her your sorrow and in trying to atone for your ill-behavior. 

Well, during this holy time, you must act in the same way towards our Lord. Be more attentive while saying your prayers, more fervent during holy mass, more obedient at home. The poor ought to have a larger share of your little savings, and you must say to God: “O Lord, vouchsafe to accept these efforts and slight sacrifices till I am able to keep thy other commandments.” This, my children, should be your penance during Lent." 

Source: The Catholic Instructor, An Educational Library of Ready Reference (1910 published by The Office of Catholic Publications, New York), under the chapter “Readings for Each Sunday in the Year: The Catholic Mother to Her Children” by The Countess de Flavigny. [Originally published under the approbation of His Grace the Archbishop of Paris, and adopted by the University, and endorsed by the Cardinal Archbishop of Tours, and the last Cardinal Manning, Archbishop of Westminster.]  

In Christ, 

Julie