Celebrate Lent, St. Valentine’s Day and the Year of the Eucharist

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Q U I C K S C A N

Parish Site of the Month
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With Lent right around the corner (Ash Wednesday is February 9), prepare your Web site for the season with a link to our Lent feature, where you will find a history of Ash Wednesday, information on Lenten customs and Lent FAQs on the dates of Lent, fasting, the Triduum, Palm Sunday and more. Use the Lenten calendar provided at the feature to browse suggested daily activities and meditations for the entire season. Also, don’t forget about the celebration of Lent’s precursor, Mardi Gras. Read “Mardi Gras’s Catholic Roots,” and learn about Mardi Gras’s role in Christian culture, the Latin meaning of “Carnival” and Fat Tuesday traditions.

February 14 is St. Valentine’s Day. This is a good time to help your visitors learn about the holiday’s religious meaning. Offer your Web site visitors a graphic link to CatholicGreetings.org for a variety of Catholic Valentine’s Day e-cards. Learn more about the Catholic connection to the holiday at “The Origins of St. Valentine’s Day,” and find ways for kids and teens to celebrate the day at “Who Was St. Valentine?”

As we celebrate the season of Lent, continue to send your site visitors to our Eucharist feature using the Eucharist logo and link to the right. At our Eucharist page read newsletter articles, Eucharist FAQs and Pope John Paul II’s 2004 message Eucharist and Mission. Also, check out a growing list of personal reflections on the Eucharist, and offer visitors a chance to submit their own reflections.

Finally, as the crisis continues following the December 26 Indian Ocean tsunami, do not forget to help the victims whose lives were devastated by the disaster. Read the latest news about relief efforts at our Tsunami news feature. Also, place a link on your home page to our list of Catholic agencies that are continuously collecting donations so that Tsunami victims can get food, medical care and assistance now and in the days and months to come.

Parish Site of the Month

St. Mary Catholic Church, Diocese of Arlington
Established in 1795, the historic St. Mary Catholic Church is the oldest parish in Virginia. On the home page of the parish’s Web site, find links to the most recent parish bulletin, a list of recent and upcoming feast days and a brief appeal for donations to Catholic Relief Services. Also, take a look at the parish’s own Year of the Eucharist page. Read about St. Mary’s plans to celebrate the Year of the Eucharist as well as Eucharistic Prayers in English and Latin. Use the site’s simple navigation to find an archive of past church bulletins, simple prayers in English and Latin and information on group activities and outings.

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YEAR OF THE EUCHARIST RESOURCES
The Crossroads Initiative
The Crossroads Initiative, endorsed by such heavyweights as Cardinal Dulles and Cardinal Keeler, offers resources for RCIA, adult faith formation and teens with a special emphasis on the early Church Fathers, the Sacrament of Confirmation and the Year of the Eucharist. In addition to providing information on audio, video and written products that can be purchased online, this Web site offers countless articles, which can be viewed and downloaded for free. Take time to check out the Eucharist Library, and prepare for Lent with articles “40 Ways to Get the Most out of Lent” and “Lenten Feasting?”

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