Opportunities During Lent
Ash Wednesday ~ Feb. 14, 2024
SJF – 8:30 am & 7:00 pm
OLC – 8:30 am & 7:00 pm
Stations of the Cross
Fridays throughout Lent at 7:00pm (SJF – Feb 16 & 23, March 1, 8, 15, & 22 (Living Stations–Pastorate Youth Ministry)
*except Good Friday, see below
Sacrament of Reconciliation
We offer Reconciliation as noted below or by appointment:
- Saturday afternoons from 3:30pm to 4:30pm
- March 26, 2024 at St. Jane Frances, 9:30–10:30am and 4:00–5:00pm.
- SJF & OLC – No Confessions on Holy Saturday
Friday Lenten Fish Frys (dine-in or carryout)
Fridays 4:00–7:00 pm in the St. Jane Frances Parish Hall
February 16 & 23 and March 1, 8 & 22 (more info)
Pastorate Lenten Mission: “Time for God” ~ March 4–6, 2024
- Monday, March 4, Talk #1, 6:30–7:30 pm, at Our Lady of the Chesapeake church
- Tuesday, March 5, Talk #2, 6:30–7:30 pm, at St. Jane Frances de Chantal church
- Wednesday, March 6, Pastorate Lenten Reconciliation Service, 6:30 pm, OLC church
Palm Sunday ~ March 24, 2024
SJF – (Saturday) 5:00 p.m.
SJF – (Sunday) 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m. & 11:30 a.m.
OLC – (Saturday) 4:00 p.m.
OLC – (Sunday) 8:30 a.m., 10:45 a.m.
Abstinence & Fasting
All persons who have reached their 14th birthday are bound by the law of abstinence (from meat). All adults are bound by the law of fast up to their 60th year. The current canonical discipline of penance for the United States, in addition to the general character of the Lenten season, may thus be summed up:
- Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of abstinence from meat and also days of fast; that is, limited to a single full meal.
- The other Fridays of Lent remain days of abstinence from meat.
- The Fridays of the year outside Lent remain days of penance, but each individual may substitute for the traditional abstinence from meat some other practice of voluntary self-denial or personal penance; this may be physical mortification or temperance or acts of religion, charity, or Christian witness.
Holy Week and the Sacred Triduum
Tenebrae Service
SJF – Tuesday, March 26 – 8:00 pm in the Church
Tenebrae (Latin for “shadows” or “darkness”) is a Christian religious service celebrated by the Church before the last three days of Holy Week. The distinctive ceremony of Tenebrae is the gradual extinguishing of candles while a series of readings and psalms are chanted or recited. All is sad and mournful, as though it were a funeral service; nothing could more emphatically express the grief that now weighs down the heart of our holy Mother the Church. The purpose of the service is to recreate the betrayal, abandonment, and agony of Jesus’ passion, and it is left unfinished, because the story isn’t over until Easter Day.
Sacred Triduum
Holy Thursday, March 28, 2024
SJF – 8:45 am Morning Prayer
SJF – 7:00 pm Mass of the Lord’s Supper (Adoration until 9:00 pm)
Good Friday, March 29, 2024
1st Day of Divine Mercy Novena
SJF – 8:45 am Morning Prayer
SJF – 12:00 pm Stations of the Cross
SJF – 3:00 pm Celebration of the Lord’s Passion (with Holy Communion)
OLC – 3:00 pm Stations of the Cross
OLC – 7:00 pm Celebration of the Lord’s Passion (with Holy Communion)
Holy Saturday, March 30, 2024
SJF – 8:45 am Morning Prayer
SJF – 9:00 am Blessing of Food
OLC – 12:00 noon Blessing of Food
Easter Masses
Easter Vigil, Saturday March 30, 2024
OLC – 8:00 pm Easter Vigil Mass
The Easter Vigil Mass begins in darkness as we await the light of Christ. A fire is lit—the Paschal Candle is lit—and light returns! This is the most beautiful of liturgies and becomes more so as members of our community become fully initiated into the fold through Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist!
Easter Sunday Masses, March 31 2024
SJF – 8:00 am, 10:00 am, 11:30 am
OLC – 8:00 am, 9:30 am, 11:00 am (Youth Ministry)