LENTEN RESOURCES & ACTIVITIES

Lenten Prep Articles
Lenten Prep Videos
Confession Resources
​Lent Ideas for You & Your Family
  • A family favorite that is easy to make is a prayer, fast, give fold over printout.  Print this file double sided, fold, then staple.  Then print the activities.  Cut the activities into strips and put them in the pockets.  Here are the directions.
  • For Teens that love their phones... Here are 7 GREAT things you can do with your phone for Lent!
  • Pray for our Archdiocese of Baltimore Priests during their Day of Prayer and Recollection on Feb. 24th.  Here is a sign up to pray or sacrifice for a specific priest or bishop.  Pray for Priests  Praying for our priests and seminarians throughout Lent is a wonderful gift of the heart.  Here is a list of the current seminarians:  Seminarians  Four are from our parish (.  You can also learn more about each man at https://spiritualbouquetministry.weebly.com/
  • A creative way to add spiritual reflection into your day-to-day this lent is by participating in the Busted Halo 2025 InstaLent Photo Challenge.  You can check out all the details HERE: .  
  • Sign up for Holy Heroes Lenten Adventure (great for kids ages 5-12). They will send you 3 emails a week with free videos and other Lenten resources for kids!  You can sign up here http://goo.gl/h8tjtV.
  • Sign up for the Best Lent Ever from Matthew Kelly.  Dynamic Catholic’s free Best Lent Ever email program will take you on a 40-day spiritual journey to encounter Jesus—and yourself—in a deeply personal way, and begin (or nourish) a habit of daily prayer at https://www.dynamiccatholic.com/lent.html
  • Sacrifice ideas for kids- Lenten Sacrifices for the Young (and Old!)  https://www.elizabethclareblog.com/lenten-sacrifices-young-old/
  • Use a Lent Jelly Bean jar.  On Ash Wednesday, set a jar out for each child. Each day they can earn a jellybean of any color (see https://gominno.com/blog/a-lent-craft-for-kids-the-jellybean-prayer-jar/ for what each color represents). Can't eat them until Easter. On Easter morning, fill the jars to the top with white jellybeans (where they are lacking) to represent the Grace of Christ.
  • Use Lenten Tags for kids to help them practice Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving.  The premise is that by drawing one simple act out of the basket each morning, we all strive to do that “one thing” throughout the day. So, on Monday we might fast from all screen time, Tuesday we smile at three people for our almsgiving, Wednesday we donate a toy to charity, etc. We rotate who draws because, kids need to practice patience. And, we hang up the challenge of the day for all to see. It’s a good visual reminder. 
  • Like the Jesse Tree for Advent?  Then you should try the Jesus Tree for Lent.  Find printables HERE.
  • Looking for some new Lent fasting ideas.  Try these HERE.
  • 10 things to do with Palms.  Different ways to fold and display your palms from Palm Sunday.  See all the ideas here https://www.catholicicing.com/10-things-to-do-with-palms-from-palm-sunday/​
  • Link to Blessed Is She Lent podcast or Video (What should I *do* for Lent?/ The Orange Story)
  • A Prayer for Lenten Grace
  • A Litany for Lent
 
Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday/ Mardi Gras) & Ash Wednesday:
  • Have a pancake dinner the night before Ash Wednesday or make a King Cake (recipe here https://www.catholicicing.com/easy-king-cake-for-mardi-gras/​). This day is known as Mardi Gras as well as Shrove Tuesday.  Pancakes were a traditional dish for this day to use up things that weren’t allowed during Lent.  
  • Attend Mass on Ash Wednesday.  Wear your ashes out into the world as a witness of our faith.
  • Make an Ash Wednesday Dust Cake.  It is a fun hands-on activity for little ones.  It's a tangible reminder that God made us out of dust (a lifeless existence) and someday we all return to dust until we are (hopefully) raised again by Christ on the last day. The hopeful part is where the ashes come in as they remind us to turn away from our dirt (sin) and get right (clean) with God!  Find the recipe here https://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2013/01/pre-ash-wednesday-dust-cake.html​
 
During Lent:  
Holy Week:
  • Serve your family Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday. They are a spiced bun and each bun is marked with the shape of a cross to symbolize Christ's suffering and crucifixion. Find a recipe here http://goo.gl/nKqcbv and the story of them here http://goo.gl/tFHzR9  
  • On Holy Thursday, do a foot washing with your family members. For more details go to https://goo.gl/Gfb4E0 
  • Attend some of the Holy Week Masses and Activities at Your Parish.
  • Holy Week box (similar to a nativity) with instructions. This is a great visual activity to do with children.  For all the details go here HOLY WEEK IN A BOX
  • What can you do on Good Friday?  25 things you can do on Good Friday to remember Christ's sacrifice - can be found here:  25 THINGS for GOOD Friday
  • Attend Stations of the Cross (especially one for children, if you have small children) 
  • On Holy Saturday make Easter Story Cookies. Each ingredient in this recipe is symbolic of a part of the Easter story, and goes with a correlating Bible verse. Go Here for the Cookie recipe and explanation:  EASTER STORY COOKIES
  •  On Good Friday, from 12-3 p.m., practice three hours of silence (make sure your kids are old enough to do it).  Have the kids draw a picture of the crucifixion, then either read a holy book or pray.  Those must be the darkest hours in our history and three hours of quiet doesn’t seem like too much to ask.  
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Lent Ideas to Print