ALTAR AND HOME - March 1958 - What is Lent?

Sep 21, 2026

March 1958 issue of the family magazine “AltAR AND HOME” devoted to the full liturgical apostolate, featuring reflections and articles for Lent. The main piece, “What is Lent?”, explains penance as more than outward practice—emphasizing spiritual reading, instruction, and the early Christian meaning of changing one’s outlook. Additional content highlights themes of balance, confession and penance stories, biblical selections, and faith-in-action examples within family life.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLifestyle

FormatPDF

Pages36

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

What is Lent?

Like a White Banner

Keeping Our Balance

Adventures in Penance

Palms and Ashes

Psalm 34 (excerpt)

Behold the Man

Noah's Ark

COLLEGE LIBRAR) DIT,MICHIGAN O NOT REMOVE HOME M A R CH 1958 A magazine of family life and prayer Len t anoO m ∈ AATARHOME 这 □ March 1958,volume 25 number 4 1 Just a Line or Two... 2 Like a White BannerAnne Tansey 6 Keeping Our BalanceNiles Wesch,O.S.B. 9 Adventures in PenanceSister Magdelene Marie,C.PP.S. 14 Palms and AshesTherese Mueller 18 Psalm 34(excerpt) 20 Behold the ManIrwin St.John Tucker 28 Noah's Ark Rev.Daniel Lupton ALTAR AND HOME,a family magazine devoted to the full liturgical apostolate,is published monthly except during June and August by the monks of ConceptionAbbey at Conception,Mo.,with ecclesiastical approbation.Editor,Maur Burbach;Assistant Editor,Hugh Tasch;Art Director,Norbert Schappler;Business Man-ager,Philip Schuster,all of the Order of Saint Benedict. newS ....comments .... newS ....comments # what is Lent? It is a season of penance,we say.Everybody understands this.Butwhat is apt to escape us is the full-er meaning that really ought to beattached to a word like penance.Centuries ago,when Christiansfirst used the term,they meantmuch more than we usually do to-day. ity was an important act of"pen-ance.” So,too,was religious instruc-tion.Education—for young andold alike—was certainly a centralelement in the ancient lenten pro-gram.We,today,have lost a greatdeal of this spirit.We do not feel,as did our forefathers,that spirit-ual formation leans so heavily ona good,solid educational training. Penance,for early Christians,included a whole new mental out-look on life.To do penance meantto change one's views on things.This included,of course,a some-what more rigorous use of mater-ial goods;it included mortification ] Spiritual reading is,from thispoint of view,a special feature ofa well-spent Lent.Especially isthis true of our reading the HolyBible.This is the truly Catholic of the flesh.But it also did not way of learning our faith.It is theoverlook the more interior part of way of God's Church,whenever itsman.It took up the problem of members gather for the celebra-how to deal with our neighbors as tion of Mass.For the missal isChrist would have us do.Char- little else but a scripture mosaic. 1 "No adding machine can measure the family legacyover at our house." LIKE A My great-grandfather never since the last clerical visit;thewent to college.In fact it is doubt-marrying of those who wished toful that he ever went to school at be married;hearing the confessionall,since the English Governmentof all the villagers;the celebrationhad a keen aversion to the educa-of Mass in some hidden room intion of Irish youth years ago.Assome household;and the distribu-his parents were not wealthy hetion of Holy Communion.Thewas not sent abroad to be edu-priest then gave religious instruc-cated.All the education he ever re-tions to the children and was avail-ceived was what he learned froniable for adults with problems tohis parents;from nature in thebe solved.shamrocked fields and fuchsia-Yet with this meager bit ofhedged hillsides of the remotereligious education Patrick Ley-crea in Sligo where he had beendon formed a spiritual practiceborn;and from the priest whowhich was a model in theologicalstole into the village at least oncevirtue.It was the outward mani-a year for a"Stations of Confes-festation of absolute trust in thesions.”will of God.Every morning uponrising he went down on his kneesbefore he dressed,to kiss the flag- This latter occasion included theLaptizing of all the babies born WHITE BANNER Anne Tansey plished what God had ordained forhim to accomplish.His youngestdaughter found her way to theUnited States and brought withher as a legacy from her father afirm trust in the will of God andthe help of God. stone floor of his thatched roofcottage three times in submissionto the will of God. In his case the will of Godrneant marriage to the"prettiestcolleen in the country,"and familylife on a stony patch of hillsidefarmland.It mea

FAQs

What does the article say Lent is fundamentally about?

It states that Lent is a season of penance, but stresses that penance’s fuller meaning can be missed in everyday understanding.

How does the text describe what penance meant for early Christians?

It says penance involved changing one’s views on life, along with a more rigorous use of material goods and mortification.

Why does the article emphasize spiritual reading during Lent?

It presents spiritual reading—especially reading the Holy Bible—as a special feature of a well-spent Lent and as a way to learn the faith.

Sep 21, 2026

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