Catholics Enter An Intense Period of Prayer: A Practical Guide To A Fruitful Lent

It’s another Lenten Season. Catholic faithfuls and other Christians kickstart the season on Ash Wednesday with the receiving of the ashes on their foreheads.

What is the Lenten Season?
Lent is a forty-day period in which the faithful seek to grow closer to God by journeying with Jesus Christ through his passion and death on the cross, preparing their hearts for his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

The faithfuls enter the desert with Jesus, accompanying him on his way to the cross through fasting, prayer, and almsgiving.

Why fast, pray, and give alms?

Every sin committed by man is rooted in pleasure, possession, and pride. To rid oneself of inordinate attachment to pleasure, the faithfuls are encouraged to deny themselves food and drink through fasting. While through alms giving, and increased prayer (time spent with God), the faithfuls overcome their disordered self-love and love of possessions (money).

The Church calls the faithfuls to journey with Christ on his way to the cross in two ways. First, it is through public prayer and fasting. Hence, the adorning of the forehead with ashes on Ash Wednesday symbolises man’s mortality. Second, the call to fast from food and meat every Wednesday and Friday throughout the Lenten season, the call to participate in the twice-weekly Stations of the Cross prayer, and the call to charity through alms giving to those in need.
These outward observances of the Lenten season signify the faithfuls’ recognition of their mortality, repentance, and intercession for others. They are supported by scripture, as in Genesis 3:19, Job 42:6, Daniel 3:3, Maccabees 3:47, and Matthew 11:21.

On the other hand, the faithfuls are also called to an inward repentance, which Joel 2 12 – 13 described as a ‘rending of your hearts, not just your garments’. Thus, the faithfuls, in addition to observing the collective fasting and prayers, are urged to undertake private fasts, prayer devotions, and alms giving. Jesus endorses this in the Gospel of Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18, where he charges the people not to pray in public where they’d be seen by men, or to walk about looking unkempt, so that people know they are fasting.

How then do we ensure a fruitful Lenten experience?

This is where Christians’ private holy mortifications of fasting, prayer and charity matter.
Bearing in mind that the season is an intensive time of prayer, fasting, and supplication, all geared towards repenting of sin and obtaining forgiveness from God, one shouldn’t skate by on doing the bare minimum.
Instead, one’s holy mortifications should be tailored to address that disordered love of pleasure, possession or pride you struggle with. Additionally, one should pray more than they’ve done before to grow closer to God and increase their acts of charity.
Reverend Father Michael Mary Chiaha tasked the faithful to, “Remember, it is a spiritual discipline. If it doesn’t cause you some discomfort, then you have a long way to go. The idea is to choose a spiritual discipline that addresses your area of weakness or worldly attachment, and aim to detach yourself from them. It is also about imbibing a spiritual practice that one can likely continue beyond Lent.
“However, there is this danger where people decide on several spiritual disciplines that they can’t keep up with, and even when they do, post-Lent, they crash-land back into their old ways of living.”

To prevent the above, EWTN Employee Chaplain, Fr. John Paul Mary Zeller, advised, “Approach Lent like it’s your last Lent. Don’t take on too many things where, in about 1 or 2 weeks, we realise we are not doing well. Pick just one or two things that you can do practically well. Also, make a good confession before and at the end of Lent. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you make a good examination of conscience and spend time with our Eucharistic Lord this Lent”.

Catholic Faithful, Vera Nebo is observing Lent this year by abstaining from social media (WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, X) to guard her eyes and thoughts from evil and sin.

“It is a personal decision. The Bible says we should guard our minds jealously and mind what we consume. I am taking a break from social media to avoid distractions, focus on the Word of God to grow in intimacy with Him, and read more spiritual works to better understand my faith. I believe I will be a better person for it.”

For those who are yet to decide on a spiritual exercise, do not despair. The faithful in different parts of the world are convening in groups to host virtual Lenten programmes or challenges aimed at encouraging private devotions and holy mortifications.
In Nigeria, Church Life Africa (CLA), a community of young Catholics dedicated to the formation of its members to know and live their faith daily, is helping the faithful deepen their prayer life with intentionality this Lenten season via its ‘Three-Tier Lenten Challenge’.
The challenge is an offshoot of its ‘Bible In A Year’ Challenge, aimed at galvanizing Catholics and Christians to journey through scripture from Genesis to Revelation from January 1 to December 31, 2026. The ‘Three-Tier Lenten Challenge’ is aimed at creating a structured pathway that allows individuals to commit at different levels, while striving for deeper communion with God. At the first level, Tier One, the faithful are required to commit to reading the Bible daily. In Tier Two, they commit to reading the Bible and attending Holy Mass; and in Tier Three, they commit to reading the Bible, attending Holy Mass, and receiving Holy Communion regularly.
“The initiative is built on the understanding that Lent is not merely a season of sacrifice, but a season of intentional spiritual alignment. Through this challenge, we are encouraging Catholics to move beyond passive observance into active participation. The goal is not perfection, but progress,” said CLA.

Elsewhere in America, Ascension Presents, a Catholic formation app and platform, will help Catholics observe private devotions this Lent via ‘Ascension Crux’. Led by Franciscan Friar of the Renewal, Fr Columba Jordan, this daily video series and challenges will see the faithful journey through Lent with four daily practices – daily physical exercise, a dietary fast, daily scripture reading (with focus on the Gospel of Mark), and a nightly Examen.
“Crux, which is a Latin word for ‘Cross’, is what Lent brings us to, the cross of Jesus. The very heart of our faith. It is also a place where we discover our own weaknesses and the God who meets us there. Crux is about consistency. It is about stepping into small, daily challenges that rub up against our weaknesses, the place we’d rather avoid, and learning to meet God there,” said Fr Jordan.

Meantime, the Hallow Catholic prayer app will see Catholic Celebrities like Jonathan Roumie (The Chosen), Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy), Mark Wahlberg (Ted), guide the faithful through its ‘Pray40: The Return Lenten Challenge’.

Roumie will lead the faithful in the selected literature for the season – ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, to help bring further home the act of repentance and forgiveness, a significant feature of Lent. Wahlberg and Pratt will lead them through Scripture-rooted fasting challenges. Reverend Sister Miriam James Heidland will host the daily imaginative prayer sessions, while Reverend Fr Mike Schnmitz, via his Sunday homilies, will help the faithful start each week right and put into practice what they learn in the Pray40 challenge.

With these available resources, nothing stops Christians from growing in intimacy with God this Lenten season.