Remember how Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony begins? Today’s Lenten Lesson: Mea Culpa Do you remember how Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony begins? Beethoven’s Fifth begins with just four notes.  But he repeats it over and over, because anything worth doing is worth overdoing. The same thing happens in the Confiteor when we repeat just four syllables: mea culpa, […]Read more

It’s like washing your hands before a meal Today’s Lenten Lesson: The Confiteor You wash your hands before you eat dinner, and you take off your dirty shoes when you walk into someone’s house, don’t you? The book of Proverbs tells us that “Even the just man sins seven times a day” (Proverbs 24:16). That’s […]Read more

Right before the Ascension, He taught us this Today’s Lenten Lesson: The Sign of the Cross We begin the Mass by making the Sign of the Cross, using the exact words that Jesus taught us (cf. Mt. 28:19 ) just before He ascended into heaven.  By signing ourselves with the cross as we say, “In […]Read more

You get out of it what you put into it Today’s Lenten Lesson: Prayers Before Mass Try to get to Mass early so you can pray the prayers before Mass. You’ve heard the conventional wisdom, “You get out of it what you put into it.” And that surely applies to the Mass. On the free […]Read more

Sacred vestments and vessels are kept here… Today’s Lenten Lesson: The Sacristy Pop Quiz:  Where do they keep the sacred vestments and sacred vessels used at Mass? Give up? In the sacristy. The sacristy is a special room in the church, usually next to the sanctuary, which many of the faithful never see. The sacristy […]Read more