I suppose I should mention the name of some of those books...

The School of Jesus Crucified
The Soul of the Apostolate
The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales for Lent
The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius
The Spiritual Combat

I have many other good spiritual books (mostly from TAN) but these are particularly good for Lenten reading.

Matthew

The one I'm (finally) reading now is Preparation for Death, by St. Alphonsus De Liguouri.

St. Alphonsus is one of my all-time favorite authors.  He makes his points so well, and helps connect ourselves, with all its baggage and tendency to slothfulness, to the Jesus Our Crucified Savior.  

Last year my health was better, and did a lot of penances and I don't know that I grew much better for them.  They probably were ok penances, but not the best ones for me.  Sometimes something seemingly small can be a great thorn in one's side --- for the right person.   My mistake last year was not running these penances past my confessor.  This year I told him about them, and he said 'no go'.   I'm almost sure if I was someone else, of better constitution, he would have said it was ok.  However, he was able to perscribe a few penances for me, one not even related to food.

BTW:
Does anyone have any suggestions for particularly bad-tasting foods?   The only one I can think of is this generic cheesy tuna-helper that I bought one time because it was on sale and I was trying to curb my tastes.   It just doesn't seem edible to me.

I know people who have trouble with making their food taste bad.  Everything they taste, pretty much, they enjoy.  Even sour foods like kale, rappini, etc., and nothing is every really too salty or not having enough, at least to wear it'd bother them that much.  I wouldn't say this is necessarily a virtue, but most likely something to do with the person's taste and upbringing (perhaps they were poor growing up and also were used to diverse foods).

I admit, I am one of those people who likes just about everything.  Even when I was a very little girl I was the same way.  I was a sumthucker...errr thumbsucker, and my father had the brilliant idea of putting tabasco sauce on my thumb.  Not long after, I began finding the stuff and putting more on my thumb by myself.  Now I still love tabasco and every other hot sauce (but I kicked the thumb).  I remember him asking me, "Why are you doing that?" when he saw me with the tabasco.  I think he saw through the excuse that I made, "because I'm trying to stop (?)"  and realized I was consuming all his beloved tabasco sauce.  He had to start hiding the tabasco, and that's when I finally quit the thumb.  (It just wasn't the same anymore without it.)  (Ha!  I remember complaining about how small they made the bottles.)  Then I ended up getting braces (ouch).

Oh, but back to Lent...probably the best thing I've done for Lent *(I hope) was get specific advice from my Confessor.  One of the biggest mistakes I've made is to not do enough small penances throughout the year (each week), and then out of guilt, do too much during Lent.  Even if you get through it with no problems, the point is that it doesn't necessarily help, because immediately after Lent it leads such a person to indulge the senses as a 'reward' afterwards.  

Slow and steady wins the race.

Gladius, I'll pray for you, and the rest of you this Lent.  PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE PRAY FOR ME.

Memento mori beads on your rosary?

Trying... not to snack...

Is kool aid ok to drink every once in a while between meals?

Water is certainly ok -- in fact, it's good for your health (otherwise you might not get enough water to stay hydrated -- just about every food has a lot of water in it)

As for other liquids, it depends on how serious you intend to keep the fast. Obviously, the more you do without, the heavier the penance.

It really is between you and God.

My opinion, which is just an opinion, is that since the weekdays of Lent are not obligatory anymore, it would be more virtuous to fast (1 main meal, 2 snacks) and drink kool-aid (even chocolate milk, if you're fainting away) between meals, rather than give up fasting because it's too hard, or because your health/body can't take it (based on what you do for a living, etc.)

Everyone is different, as far as occupation, bodily constitution, etc. are concerned. That is why it's best to ask your confessor and/or silently pray about it.

Above all, we don't want to deceive ourselves. If we are honest with ourselves, and honest with God, we will go far in the spiritual life.

In Christ,

Matthew

Kool-aid is #$@!, and should not be consumed at any point in one's life.  Any juice, however, is certainly acceptable between meals.  Converte nos, Deus salutaris noster, et averte iram tuam a nobis.

 Me--><---gladius
Shame on your for your language.  


Well, I don't particularly care for Kool-Aid, but if I was fainting away, boy I'd drink it in a hurry!   One time I had a fit when I wasn't even fasting, but just because I was travelling and didn't get to stop to get something.  I literally couldn't see in front of me, but I could hear.  Kool-Aid not a good way to stabilize one's sugar, but if one is in dire need of sugar, it's a sure bet!  

But if it's simply regarding fasting, and if someone is drinking it because they like it, then they should drink it only on Sunday.  Instead of savoring the artificial-fruity 'goodness' of Kool-Aid, savor the fact that not only are you growing in virtue, but you can make it a love note to your most Blessed Mother and to your Lord.  Now THAT'S Kool!  If you stay with this for any length of time, say for example, throughout the rest of Lent, you will have developed a greater love for higher things, because your attention won't be so easily diverted by your appetite for something you once craved.   The pay off is totally priceless!   You're closer to how you would need to be in order to get into Heaven, and, thereby, happier even in this life for it.  Don't underestimate the small steps!  It's an awesome investment for eternity and even in the not-so-long  term.

Any drink that is water with anything else added to it is what I was implying by kool aid.

I'm assuming snacking isn't allowed at any time during Lent?

You have to remember that under current Church law you are only bound under pain of sin to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and abstain from meat on these two days as well as all Fridays of lent. That being said, no one here can say you are obliged to do any more than that, so to ask what you are "allowed" to do during lent is going more along the lines of the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law. What we can say is, if you do want to fast, which no one can deny is an inseparable part of penance and what lent is all about, then use what was in place prior to the crisis as a guideline for your Lenten fast.  To keep it simple, just have one main meal, with meat if you like, and two smaller meatless snacks that you would normally eat during your other eating times. No eating anything between these times, the hardest time often being in the evening before heading to bed. Drink whatever you need to keep your strength between meals, water being preferable, but coffee would not be breaking the fast nor probably soft drinks strictly speaking. You should always leave the table feeling still a little hungry. Those simple rules are you really need to know to do a Lenten fast. Don't make it more complicated than it is.  :scratchchin: