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PENSACOLA | FORT WALTON | PANAMA CITY | TALLAHASSEE
Click above to view the Lenten penance times in your area.
Lent is the observance of prayer, fasting and abstinence, and almsgiving before Easter. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, Catholics prepare their hearts for the celebration of the resurrection of the Lord. During Lent, many Catholics choose to go the extra mile and “give up” something like candy, TV, or late-night snacks. The only prescribed days of fasting and abstinence are Ash Wednesday, every Friday of Lent, and Good Friday.
According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:
Days of Abstinence
No meat can be eaten on Ash Wednesday and all of the Fridays during Lent. This applies to all Catholics 14 and older.
Days of Fast
Only one full meal is permitted on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday for Catholics between 18 and 59. Two smaller meals are permitted, but the small meals should not equal a second full meal. Drinking coffee, tea and water between meals are allowed. Snacks between meals are not allowed.
Days of Lent
Looking for a wonderful new way to experience Lent in 2019?
Click here.For a comprehensive guide to the 2019 Lenten season, with suggested prayers, devotionals, calendar, and other interesting information, check out the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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CONFESSIONAs Catholics, we are encouraged to make the Sacrament of Confession a more significant part of our spiritual life during Lent.
Check out our confession guide if you haven't been in a while.
Click below to view the Lenten penance times in your area.
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POPES AND SAINTS SPEAK
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God (Rm 8:19)
MESSAGE OF POPE FRANCIS FOR LENT 2019
Lent is a privileged time of interior pilgrimage towards Him Who is the fount of mercy. It is a pilgrimage in which He Himself accompanies us through the desert of our poverty, sustaining us on our way towards the intense joy of Easter. Even in the “valley of darkness” of which the Psalmist speaks (Ps 23:4), while the tempter prompts us to despair or to place a vain hope in the work of our own hands, God is there to guard us and sustain us. Yes, even today the Lord hears the cry of the multitudes longing for joy, peace, and love. As in every age, they feel abandoned. Yet, even in the desolation of misery, loneliness, violence and hunger that indiscriminately afflict children, adults, and the elderly, God does not allow darkness to prevail. In fact, in the words of my beloved Predecessor, Pope John Paul II, there is a “divine limit imposed upon evil”, namely, mercy (Memory and Identity, pp. 19ff.).MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI FOR LENT 2006
Our primitive rule states that we must pray without ceasing. If we do this with all the care possible — for unceasing prayer is the most important aspect of the rule — the fasts, the disciplines, and the silence the order commands will not be wanting. For you already know that if prayer is to be genuine, it must be helped by these other things; prayer and comfortable living are incompatible.
St. Teresa of Avila, The Way of Perfection
Now the soul who wishes to rise above imperfection should await My Providence in the House of Self-Knowledge,with the light of faith, as did the disciples, who remained in the house in perseverance and in watching, and in humble and continual prayer, awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit. She should remain fasting and watching, the eye of her intellect fastened on the doctrine of My Truth, and she will become humble because she will know herself in humble and continual prayer and holy and true desire.
Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena
The efforts of Christians to promote justice, their commitment in defence of the powerless, their humanitarian work in providing bread for the hungry and their care for the sick by responding to every emergency and need, draw their strength from that sole and inexhaustible treasury of love which is the complete gift of Jesus to the Father. Believers are called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, true God and true man, who, in perfect obedience to the will of the Father, emptied himself (cf. Phil 2:6 ff), and humbly gave himself to us in selfless and total love, even unto death on a cross. Calvary eloquently proclaims the message of the Blessed Trinity’s love for human beings of all times and places.
Saint Augustine points out that only God, as the Supreme Good, is capable of overcoming the various forms of poverty present in our world. Mercy and love for one’s neighbour must therefore be the fruit of a living relationship with God and have God as their constant point of reference, since it is in closeness to Christ that we find our joy (cf. De Civitate Dei, X, 6; CCL 39:1351ff).
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II FOR LENT 2003
Looking for Liturgical Guidelines for Lent? Follow this link.
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2019 Lenten Penance services
Please call your parish if days/ times are not listed.
Pensacola
St. Thomas More Catholic Church – Wednesday, March 13 – 6 p.m.
Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church, Pensacola – Tuesday, March 19 – 6:30 p.m.
St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Pensacola – Thursday, March 21 - 6:30 p.m.
Little Flower Catholic School, Pensacola – Friday, March 22 – 9 a.m.
Little Flower Catholic Church, Pensacola – Wednesday, March 27 - 6 p.m.
St. Mary Catholic Church, Pensacola - Wednesday, March 27 - 7 p.m.
St. John the Evangelist School, Pensacola – Wednesday, March 27 – 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
St. Paul Catholic School, Pensacola - Wednesday, March 27 - 9:30 a.m.
St. Paul Catholic Church, Pensacola - Wednesday, March 27 – 6:30 p.m.
St. Anne Catholic Church, Bellview - Thursday, March 28 – 6 p.m.
St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, Milton - Thursday, April 4 – 7 p.m.
St. Ann Catholic Church, Gulf Breeze - Wednesday, April 10 – 6:30 p.m.
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart – Saturday, April 13 – 2 to 3:30 p.m. (Extended time on regular Saturday confessions)
REGULAR WEEKLY RECONCILIATION OPPORTUNITIES
Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel - Monday, Wednesday & Friday – 11 to 11:45 a.m.
Fridays of Lent – 6 to 7 p.m.
Saturdays of Lent – 10 to 11 a.m. when Church is open for visitation
Holy Thursday 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Good Friday – 12 to 2 p.m.
Divine Mercy Celebration - Sunday, April 28 - with confessions from 1 to 3 p.m.
Holy Spirit Catholic Church – Reconciliation is celebrated the First Five Sunday’s of Lent at all Masses – Saturday, 5:30 p.m.; Sunday, 8 a.m. & 11 a.m.
St. Anne Catholic Church, Pensacola/Bellview - Every Saturday 3 to 3:45 p.m.
Thursday following morning Mass
St. Joseph Catholic Church – Confessions available Tuesday through Friday of each week from 4:30 to 5:25 p.m.
St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, Milton – Confessions available every 1 st Monday of the month from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Church.
Fort Walton Area
Christ Our Redeemer, Niceville - Monday, March 11 – 6:30 p.m.
Our Lady of Victory, Crestview – Monday, March 11 – 7 p.m.
Resurrection, Miramar Beach – Thursday, March 14 – 6:30 p.m.Holy Name of Jesus, Niceville – Monday, March 18 and Tuesday, 19 – Parish Mission at 7 p.m. with Msgr. Crawford
Eglin Airforce Base – Wednesday, March 20 – 6 p.m.
Holy Name of Jesus, Niceville – Saturday, March 30 - Confirmation Retreat, 11 a.m.
St. Mary School, Fort Walton Beach – Monday, April 1 - 10 a.m.
St. Margaret of Scotland, Defuniak Springs – Friday, April 5 – 6:30 p.m.
Corpus Christi, Destin - Friday, April 5 - 7 p.m.Holy Name of Jesus Niceville – Monday, April 8 – 7 p.m.
St. Rita, Santa Rosa Beach – Tuesday, April 9 – 6:30 p.m.
St. Mary, Fort Walton Beach – Thursday, April 11 – 6:30 p.m.
St. Peter, Mary Esther - TBA
Panama City Area
St. Francis of Assisi, Blountstown - Tuesday, March 19 - 6:30 p.m. Central
St. Bernadette, Panama City - Wednesday, March 27 - 6 p.m.
St. Dominic, Panama City - Monday, April 1 - 6 p.m.
St. John the Evangelist, Panama City - Tuesday, April 2 - 6 p.m.
St. Theresa, Sunny Hills - Thursday, April 4 - 6 p.m.
St. Joseph the Worker, Chipley - April 11 - 5 p.m.
St. Anne, Marianna - Thursday, April 11 - 7 p.m.
St. Peter and Paul, Panama City - Friday, April 12 - 7 p.m.
St. Patrick, Apalachicola - TBA
Our Lady of the Rosary, Panama City - TBA
Our Lady Queen of Peace, Fountain - TBA
St. Joseph, Port St. Joe - TBA
Tallahassee Area
Holy Cross, Chattahoochee - Tuesday, March 18 - 5:30 p.m. Eastern
Blessed Sacrament, Tallahassee - Tuesday, April 2 - 7 p.m.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton - Tuesday, April 2 - 7 p.m.
St. Louis Parish, Tallahassee - Wednesday, April 10 - 7 p.m.
Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More - Thursday, April 11 - 7 p.m.
Good Shepherd Parish, Tallahassee - Monday, April 15 - 7 p.m.
REGULAR WEEKLY RECONCILIATION OPPORTUNITIES
St. Eugene Chapel, Tallahassee - Confessions available every Tuesday and Friday 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. or by calling 850.222.6482
Immaculate Conception, Perry - Reconciliation is available each Saturday at 5:30 p.m., Sunday at 7:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. or by appointment.