Septuagesima began yesterday

I had not so much as heard of Septagesima until a couple of years ago.  It is a liturgical season which, like Ember Days and Rogation Days, were completely removed from the new Church calendar with the Novus Ordo Missae.  I wrote about Septagesima last year, when it was still new to me.  Septuagint – the name of the season which begins with Septuagesima Sunday –  is a sort of prepartory time for the great pentitential season of Lent.  It might seem odd to have a preparatory time for penance, but I found it’s actually very helpful.  In previous years, I would frequently be caught out by Lent – not really ready to begin penance and not having a clear idea even of what penances I would perform.  With Septuagint, I started already focusing on the reason for Christ’s Incarnation, suffering, and death – our sinfulness which required the bloody sacrifice of our God and Creator in order to atone for our sins. That preparation helped me be more focused for Lent.

Even if you are not someone who assists at the Traditional Mass or is involved in a traditional parish, you can still start to prepare for Lent now.  As David Werling makes clear in his very helpful description of Septuagint, we need to prepare for Lent by imploring God for graces to help us get more focused, be more ready to offer up penance, and to practice virtue much better.  We must implore God’s Grace, because on our own, we can do nothing. We are entirely dependent on Grace for every good we do.  Quorting Mr. Werling:

Modern Catholics enter into the Lenten fast unprepared, and as a result enter it
with the impression that the fast is a human act, one that can mend the soul
from human ability alone. This Pelagian attitude is rampant in the Church today.
It diminishes the role of grace, the absolute Sovereignty of Christ, and
ultimately, it diminishes the Divinity of Our Blessed Lord. Only He can enrich
our Lenten fast. Only He, the Absolute Monarch, can release us from our exile
in hoc lacrymarum valle. Only He, Jesus
Christ, can save us.

Here is a nice excerpt from Dom Prosper Gueranger’s great opus on the Liturgical Year discussing the history of Septuagint.

More here on Septuagesima Sunday.