We have officially made it to Quinquagesima Sunday. As Septuagesima and Sexagesima each represent 70 and 60 days before Easter, so Quinquagesima is Latin for 50 meaning it is now 50 days before Easter.
Ash Wednesday is this week, so we need to have all of our Lenten preparations completed.
These are the last few days for preparing for Lent.
For preparing ourselves, our families and our homes for Lent.
Preparing ourselves for Lent
Sacrifices
Once we know what sacrifices we are going to make throughout Lent, I highly recommend writing them down.
By writing them down, we sort of create some accountability to stick with them. It’s also a great tool to help teach and encourage your kids.
This could be a great family tradition to start!
The whole family writing down their sacrifices and putting them in a bowl or maybe a vase and placing that on the home altar.
It’ll be visible all throughout Lent which will serve as a great reminder about our Lenten commitments.
Prayers
Nothing complicated. Simplicity is the way Lent is meant to go.
Lent is a time to help bring us closer to God, so simple prayers and sacrifices are the way to go.
Pick out an extra devotion or two, or plan to carve out a certain time every day for meditations.
If you need some extra encouragement to stick to the devotions you’ve picked out, feel free to write them down and place them on the home altar with your written sacrifices.
Spiritual Reading
Place your Lenten reading selection where you will see it and grab it!
Whether you’ve picked out one book or more, it’s important to place our chosen books wherever is most convenient for you.
That might be on the nightstand, or maybe the coffee table. It might be right on the kitchen counter. It doesn’t matter, so long as we see it and read it. That’s what counts.
Preparing our Homes for Lent
Menu
Have your Lenten meal and snack list handy!
I encourage you to go ahead and prep some snacks for this first, short week of Lent.
Even though this first week is only half a week, it’s important to start off strong with our food preparation. This is probably the easiest area to start falling behind with and then we might forget about it completely.
So let’s have a strong start to Lent and have whatever snacks our family wants ready to go!
Home Decor
We also need to start setting up our Lenten home decor so that it’s all ready by Ash Wednesday.
If you’re putting some things out or if you’re taking things down or both, go ahead and do it now.
I will be putting out on our dining room table a purple table runner with a crown of thorns in the center. Purple is the color of the vestments during this season, so I want to bring that into our home.
On Ash Wednesday, I’ll be sharing pictures of our table set up, so keep an eye out for that.
Whatever you’re doing to keep the Lenten season in the home, set it up now.
Get your children to help if they’re able and take that opportunity to explain some more of Lent to them.
The more you can involve them in the process, the more they will understand and participate in the season of Lent.
It’s never too early for them to make sacrifices in reparation of sin.
Final Days
Lent begins in only three days. As homemakers, we have to make the most of them.
While all of this prep work is important, if something is forgotten it will never be too late to add it in.
Keep it simple, and you’ll be sure to have a good Lent, full of spiritual growth.
Leave a Reply