Fr. Columba Jordan, CFR, has released a new Lenten devotional titled "Crux" in partnership with Ascension Press. The devotional aims to help individuals focus on Christ’s sacrifice and the Resurrection through spiritual exercises during Lent. Crux incorporates four components: daily physical exercise, a dietary fast, daily Scripture reading, and a nightly examen. The program emphasizes recognizing personal weakness and surrendering it to God, fostering the belief that one is a beloved child of God. The ultimate goal of engaging with the devotional is to transform one's life, leading to treating others with self-giving love (agape).
about 1 month ago
The devotional Crux, authored by Fr. Columba Jordan, CFR, and published by Ascension Press, offers a structured guide for the Lenten season.1 2
It includes an optional journal and daily videos via the Ascension app, aiming to transform lives by focusing on Christ's sacrifice and Resurrection.1 2
Crux features four key practices: daily physical exercise, dietary fast, Scripture reading, and nightly examen.1 2
These elements promote discipline for body and soul, nurturing weakness to surrender to God.1 2
Fr. Columba emphasizes Lent as a time to discover personal weakness and encounter God's love.1 2
He urges believers to internalize their identity as God's beloved children, fostering agape love for all.1 2
The devotional links faith to works, citing James 2, and encourages proclaiming Church truths publicly.1 2
Daily reflections prompt action, such as volunteering, supporting life issues, and performing works of mercy.1 2
Biblical stories illustrate how personal attentiveness to Jesus blesses others.1 2
Fr. Columba highlights Jesus' repeated calls to serve, urging readers to shine Christ's light through gifts and mercy.1 2
Article 2 features a single positive comment thanking Fr. Columba.2
This reflects early enthusiasm for the program's spiritual tools.2
Evaluate how Catholic Lenten devotions integrate physical, dietary, scriptural, and examen practices
Catholic Lenten devotions form a rich tapestry that weaves together physical discipline, dietary restraint, immersion in Scripture, and rigorous self-examination, fostering a holistic journey toward repentance and union with Christ's Paschal Mystery. Rooted in the Church's liturgical wisdom, these practices are not isolated but mutually reinforcing, as seen in the preparatory Sundays, the essence of true fasting, and the rhythm of Lenten services.
At the heart of Lenten observance lies dietary abstinence and physical fasting, which extend beyond mere bodily restraint to embody spiritual combat. Authentic fasting demands "to put away all evil, to control the tongue, to resist anger, and to abstain from lust, slander, falsehood, and perjury," illustrating how dietary limits—such as refraining from certain foods—mirror a broader purification of flesh and soul. In Eastern Catholic traditions, these extend to "cold, dried fare" on specific days during Major Lent, with fish prohibited on Saturdays and Sundays, and stricter rules on Wednesdays and Fridays, underscoring a physical denial that trains the body for virtue.
Physical devotions amplify this: the Way of the Cross or Via Dolorosa, performed on Fridays after Sexagesima and throughout Lent in nearly all churches, unites bodily movement with meditation on Christ's suffering. Similarly, expositions of the Blessed Sacrament, such as on Septuagesima Sunday or with the chaplet of the Five Wounds, involve kneeling and processions, engaging the body in prayerful endurance. These acts prepare the faithful for "spiritual combat," as exhorted in Cheesefare Sunday's sticheron: "Let us set out with joy upon the season of the Fast, and prepare ourselves for spiritual combat. Let us purify our soul and cleanse our flesh; and as we fast from food, let us abstain also from every passion." Thus, physical and dietary practices are entry points to deeper conversion, not ends in themselves.
Scripture permeates Lenten devotions, providing the narrative thread that interprets bodily sacrifices. The four preparatory Sundays of the Triodion—Publican and Pharisee, Prodigal Son, Meatfare, and Cheesefare—liturgically guide believers from sinfulness to transfiguration. On the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee, humility trumps pride; the Prodigal Son calls for repentance as a return to the Father's home; Meatfare Sunday, with Matthew 25:31-46 on Divine Judgment, urges confession and works of mercy; and Cheesefare emphasizes mutual forgiveness as the first step in repentance.
Lenten services progressively unfold this through hymns and readings: sowing "seeds of repentance" (First Sunday), growing "shoots of virtues" (Second), venerating the life-giving Cross (Third), climbing the "spiritual ladder" of St. John Climacus (Fourth), and reaching purification with St. Mary of Egypt (Fifth). Sermons on Wednesdays and Fridays, Lenten preaching received by the Pope, and Holy Week exercises like Passion sermons further root devotions in the Word, ensuring dietary fasts and physical efforts align with Gospel imperatives. The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts on Wednesdays and Fridays, using Gifts consecrated previously, heightens scriptural focus amid non-liturgical days, reminding the faithful that Eucharist is no habit but a dynamic encounter with Christ's Passion narrative.
Self-examination, or examen, integrates seamlessly as the soul's counterpart to outward practices. Fasting warns, "If you refrain from eating but do not purify yourself of the passions, then your fasting is in vain," equating unexamined restraint with demonic imitation. Preparatory themes demand honest appraisal: recognizing sins on Meatfare Sunday, forgiving others on Cheesefare, and imitating the Publican's humility.
This examen culminates in Lenten progression toward "spiritual purification and repentance," where physical devotions like the Way of the Cross prompt reflection on personal sins against Christ's journey, and dietary abstinence fosters detachment from "every passion." Non-liturgical days—Cheesefare Week Wednesdays/Fridays, first week's Monday/Tuesday, Good Friday—create space for examen, intensifying interior work before fuller Eucharistic participation. In this, Lent's movable cycle centers on Pascha, with Triodion services accompanying the faithful through scriptural examen toward resurrection.
These elements converge in the Church's yearly cycle, where physical and dietary rigors are illumined by Scripture and deepened by examen. The Triodion's hymns link fasting to virtues, judgment to mercy, and forgiveness to Paschal joy, preventing any practice from becoming mechanical. Roman observances, like golden rose blessings on Laetare Sunday or Holy Week rites, echo this unity across rites, with Eastern details (e.g., Ruthenian Holy Week) affirming catholicity. Ultimately, Lenten devotions transform the body, mind, and soul, echoing the sticheron's call to "rejoicing in the virtues of the Spirit" for beholding Christ's Passover.
In summary, Catholic Lenten devotions masterfully integrate physical exertion and dietary fasting as means to scriptural meditation and examen-driven repentance, forming a unified ascent to Easter renewal faithful to the Church's tradition.