During the Lenten season at Saint Paul School, we teach our children through prayer, sacrificial giving and special activities to respond to the Lenten call as stewards of the blessings given them. Lent is about turning our hearts to God. Lent becomes a time of spiritual renewal—a time of personal enrichment as well as a time of sharing with others.

What a wonderful opportunity Lent provides us to share with the children the many ways God has blessed us. In recognizing our blessings, we then can discover ways to “make a return” and give back.

At Saint Paul School, the students are actively involved in their Lenten activities.
Our 3^rd grade is learning about Lent through people and their importance. They will be studying people such as Abraham, the apostle Paul, the Samaritan women, Lazarus and the children of Jerusalem. Our Kindergarten is using their Lenten countdown chart. They color in a leaf or caterpillar every day until Holy Thursday. The caterpillar gets bigger as we go along, and turns into a chrysalis on Good Friday and into a butterfly on Easter. Our 2^ndgrade has written their personal Lenten sacrifices. Our 5^th grade completed a Lenten Promise where they wrote down one thing they will do during Lent to help others and one thing that they are going to give up for Lent. Our Middle School is studying how we can better observe Lent: the recommended practices of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and works of charity. They review the symbols, colors, and special days during Lent. All three grades light our "Lenten log" which is a little beam with 7 purple candles and one white candle. We light one a week until we light all 7 plus the white Easter candle. We do this to create a tangible sense of anticipation for Holy week and for the Resurrection. In addition, the Student Council will be sponsoring a clothing drive for the Friendship Center.
Grades 4 and 7 will be performing the “Living Stations” on Friday, April 15^that 1:15. All are invited.

I would like to share a Lenten prayer written by a 5^thgrader many years ago:
Dear Jesus,
As we enter the Lenten season with the symbol of Your cross pressed on our foreheads with ashes, we are reminded of how we are all sinners. At the beginning of Lent, most of us promise to give something up, or stop doing something negative. Help make us better people because we know we are all sinners. Please help keep our promises to be better people and send your Holy Spirit to help us be more like You. We all have our reasons for what we give up, or what we do, and if we trip and stray from our promise, help us not to give up. We know you understand, because you forgave us on the cross, and that’s what these forty days are all about.

Let us pray that during this Lenten season, we may open our hearts to Christ and to others. We pray that the Gospel values of family will inspire our children to live lives of faith and service. May we seize every chance to open our hearts to come to know our risen Savior more and more each day.
Mr. Robert Biancamano