Easter is Coming!

One of my favorite hobbies is to walk around stores. I'll admit it can be very dangerous for the very reason that stores want me to do this, so I buy their stuff. And it normally works.

However, this past Sunday, when I went into Target, I noticed that in the seasonal section, all the Valentine's Day candy was on sale and all the Easter candy was out. 

Now two thoughts occurred to me. First, "What happened to St. Patrick's Day?" Second, "Happy Septuagesima Sunday!"

On Sunday, those who follow the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and Breviary, began the Liturgical season of Septuagesima. The season was almost an extension of Lent, in that the Gloria and Alleluia were not said, purple vestments were used, and the entire liturgy took on a more penitential tone. While Lent begins 40 days before Easter in order to commemorate the 40 days of fasting by Jesus in the desert, Septuagesima begins 70 days before Easter to commemorate the 70 years of Babylonian captivity of the Jews. The two seasons of Septuagesima and Lent are obviously related in many ways - they both anticipate Easter, they are both penitential, the Alleluia is not said etc. - they also have their own respective natures. 

The layman's definition of Lent would probably be something along the lines of, "that time of the year when we give up stuff." That's certainly not a complete (or very in-depth) definition, but it's not false either. Lent is the time when we practice penance, generally by fasting, abstinence, and refraining from certain neutral or joyful practices, but it is primarily a time in which we look to give up our sinful attachments to prepare to renew our Baptismal Vows at Easter. The penance is so that we might more perfectly reform our fallen natures. We practice joining in death to this world with Christ, so that we might rise again as citizens of the next world, while still dwelling within this world. 

Septuagesima is not about this though. We complain about giving things up for 40 days; why would we give something up for 70? I can think of a lot of good reasons, but the Church doesn't ask us to do this. Rather, Septuagesima is more of a preparation for Lent. It is a time in which we should reflect upon our fallen state. The Extraordinary Form will take some of its readings for Matins, from the Genesis account of the Fall and the Flood. How perfect would it be if we took our some of our daily meditations on our own fallen states? 

I don't like the idea of picking out your Lenten practices the day before Ash Wednesday. The Church used to liturgically call Her children to do this earlier, and while I do not think that the suppression of Septuagesima was a bad thing (rather, I think it was a good idea), I also do not like completely suppressing all of the customs and spirituality that went along with it. 

Let us then salvage these meditations on the fallen state of man. Let us salvage this preparation for Lent. Soldiers go into battle after training and preparation, and the collect for Ash Wednesday says, "Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of Christian service, so that, as we take up battle against spiritual evils, we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint." We are therefore soldiers preparing for the battle against our sinful natures. 

Let us then spend these last two weeks before Lent focusing on Easter. I specifically say, "on Easter," and not, "on Lent," because all the Church's feasts and seasons point to Easter. We fast on account of the feast!