Lent

40 days before Easter: March 9, 2011. This is a time of prayer and fasting for Christians to prepare them for the Central and most important day of our religion, Easter. Easter is the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. What makes Jesus different from all others is that He rose from the dead. His resurrection was prophesied, predicted and wrote about for centuries before in the Old Testament.

Lent has traditionally been marked by penitential prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Some churches today still observe a rigid schedule of fasting on certain days during Lent, especially the giving up of meat, alcohol, sweets, and other types of food. Other traditions do not place as great an emphasis on fasting, but focus on charitable deeds, especially helping those in physical need with food and clothing, or simply the giving of money to charities. Most Christian churches that observe Lent at all focus on it as a time of prayer, especially penance, repenting for failures and sin as a way to focus on the need for God's grace. It is really a preparation to celebrate God's marvelous redemption at Easter, and the resurrected life that we live, and hope for, as Christians.

The day before good Friday was the beating of Jesus, the betrayal of Judas, and the denial of Peter. Jesus also had the "Last supper" with the disciples. This night was very important because Jesus prophesied that one of the disciples were going to betray Him for thirty pieces (money) which happened a few hours later and Judas kissed Him as the sign of whom they were supposed to arrest. Jesus also professed that Peter was going to deny Him three times and when he did the rooster would crow.

yes even though it is a holiday they still are open.

In the Good Friday service in the Catholic Church, the following take place: 1. The clergy and severs enter barefoot, in complete silence, and prostrate themselves before the altar (which is without decoration) 2. After a simple prayer, there are three readings from Sacred Scripture, the last of which is the Passion of Christ according to Saint John. 3. The readings may be followed by a brief homily. 4. This is followed by specially set Prayers of the Faithful, which are longer than the ones normally offered during the Eucharist. 5. The Prayers are followed by the solemn bringing into the Church of the Cross. During the procession, the priest or deacon stops 3 times and lifts the Cross as high as possible, singing "This is the wood of the cross on which hung the Saviour of the world." The people respond by singing "Come, let us worship" and genuflect. 6. After the Cross (which should not have a figure of Christ) is brought to the front, the people either spend some moments in adoration or come forward to kiss the Cross. 7. The adoration of the Cross is followed by the praying of the Our Father and the distribution of Holy Communion, which was consecrated the previous evening. The service ends with a short prayer after which the celebrant and servers leave without any blessing of the people or final hymn.

Lent starts on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. There are 40 days in Lent, because you eliminate the Sundays.

The current law in effect since Pope Paul VI is you must begin abstinence from your fourteenth year until the end of your life - thus 14 years old.

Lent is a time of fasting because it is the time prior to Christ's crucifixion while he walked through the desert. Making sacrifices acknowledges the sacrifices He made for us. Also, Lent is a time of solace, not a time of celebration. Our sacrifice can represent our solace.

One of many Scriptures:

Matthew 27:11 New King James Version:

Jesus Faces Pilate

11 Now Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?" Jesus said to him, "It is as you say."

You don't need to wear a certain color for Good Friday, you just need to make sure that what you are wearing is appropriate.

I know of no tradition of today that says you shouldn't or couldn't wear red on Good Friday, however, if you are asking for your own religious beliefs, then I would suggest asking a Priest or Pastor. Certain religions, even today, view the wearing of red as a bold and egotistical statement, which shows vanity and is of course one of the deadly sins.

I'm not sure why some Christian Faiths view Red as being such a bad color and how such things as hanging red lights outside your home to show the location of a "house of ill repute" exist.

The Blood of Christ was Red, so why would Christians view the color as a bad color, it is the Red Blood of Christ that paid for their sins and pardoned them.

Catholics are not required to wear any specific color on Good Friday, but they tend to wear red and/or black, in honor of the Christ's passion.

People normally prefer light shades. White is considered a very appropriate color for Good Friday.

Well Easter is celebrated by Catholics and Christians while Ramadan is celebrated by Muslims. Ramadan is a full month of fasting while Easter is not. Easter consists of bunnies and chocolates as a big symbol that everyone has but Ramadan does not have that.

Palm sunday, when Jesus turned up on a donkey, when Jesus turned over all the tables in the temple. There was also when the Priests asked Jesus the questions to trick him, Crucifixion and so on.

Now, Christians go to Mass on Palm Sunday and receive Palms. They sing the praises of Jesus and thank God for his wonderful gifts. Then they bring the Palms home, usually making them into crosses and hanging them up around your house. But make sure the Palms don't touch the ground. If they do, Christians have to burn them to show respect for a blessed thing.

Eastern Orthodox Lent in 2010 begins on 15 February and ends on 4 April (Easter Day).

Palm Sunday is celebrated today by :

In church,People often wear festive things, carry palms, decorate etc.

It is fun.

Often for young children, there are games and fun things to do.

Sometimes take communion.

Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter :)))))

Jesus angered the rich people in the temple.

Two rich men walked into the temple and donated to charity. The first man donated 2 gold coins. The second man donated 9 silver coins. Then a poor, old woman cam in and donated 2 copper coins. Jesus stood up and said 'This woman has donated more than both of you rich men. This is all the money this woman owns and she gave it all. she didn't show off by giving lots. She gave what meant lots to her. The rich people in the temple were very angry at Jesus.

The priests process in, in silence. They then prostrate themselves on the floor before the Crucifix. Afterwhich,

they go to the chair and pronounce the opening prayer. All of the liturgies of the Triduum

(Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday) are considered one, so they have no greeting or dismissal.

You don't do anything on Good Friday except Catholics do not eat meat and I'm a Catholic . Good Friday is the last day of Lent and there the fasting and meatless meals are over for another year. Prayers are said and thoughtfulness about the passion of Christ is very important. It is a sad and solemn day but in three days we celebrate because Christ rose from the dead on Easter Sunday.