+JMJ+ sanjuan.webhop.org Preparation for the Holy Season of Lent- Sexagesima Sunday, February 12th, 2012. Celebrant was Fr. Michael Rodriguez. The schola and choir were mainly composed of youth.Traditionally,Sexagesima Sunday is the second of three Sundays (Septuagesima is the first and Quinquagesima is the third) of preparation for Lent. The Latin word "Sexagesima" literally means "sixtieth," though it only falls 56 days before Easter. Septuagesima and Lent are both times of penance, Septuagesima being a time of voluntary fasting in preparation for the obligatory Great Fast of Lent. The theme is the Babylonian exile, the "mortal coil" we must endure as we await the Heavenly Jerusalem. Sobriety and somberness reign liturgically; the Alleluia and Gloria are banished. The Sundays of Septugesima are named for their distance away from Easter The first Sunday of Septuagesima gives its name to the entire season as it is known as "Septuagesima." "Septuagesima" means "seventy," and ! Septuagesima Sunday comes roughly seventy days before Easter. This seventy represents the seventy years of the Babylonian Captivity. It is on this Sunday that the alleluia is "put away," not to be said again until the Vigil of Easter. The second Sunday of Septuagesima is known as "Sexagesima, which means "sixty". Sexagesima Sunday comes roughly sixty days before Easter. The third Sunday of Septuagesima is known as "Quinquagesima," which means "fifty" and which comes roughly fifty days before Easter
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