Planning for Lent

Usually I work out my Lenten plan some few weeks before the start of the season, but here it is, the Saturday before Ash Wednesday, and I’m only now thinking about it!

In my own defense, I’ve been working on my presentation to our Catechumens on Monday about Ash Wednesday and Lent, so it’s not been far from my mind. I just haven’t formulated an actual plan yet.

Last year, inspired by our upcoming Camino, I followed a Lenten Pilgrimage.

This afternoon, I saw a great interview of Dom Philip Anderson, Abbot of Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek Abbey, and it’s got my brain going.

He talks a bit about the “poetry” of Benedictine life and, although he didn’t use that word, the romance of the contemplative, monastic experience.

I’ve long been inspired by the story of Our Lady of Clear Creek. I first became aware of them through this video:

Well worth a watch!

I prayed with one of their Rosaries through the Camino, and it has been a great comfort to me before, during, and since my pilgrimage.

So I’m starting to formulate what a monastic Lent might look like.