Author Topic: Birthday During Lent (Read 1676 times)

Dolores · « **on:** March 10, 2015, 10:29:07 AM »

My sister-in-law's birthday is in mid-March, and, consequently, always during Lent. She has struggled with how to observe her birthday (if at all) so as not to disrupt the Lenten observance. She's not a child anymore, so she's not worried about having a party or anything like that, but, like most people I think, she would like to have a nice dinner and perhaps a cake on her birthday. In the past, some years she's totally ignored her birthday, other times she waiting until after Easter to acknowledge it, sometimes she celebrated it on a Sunday in Lent.

It's a milestone birthday for her this year, and my husband wants to throw her a party, if not on her birthday than on the Sunday following it. What do you think is appropriate? Is gift-giving, a family get-together, a fancy dinner, and cake compatible with Lent, even if its for a birthday?

Stubborn · « **Reply #1 on:** March 10, 2015, 02:03:54 PM »

We always celebrate on the Sunday after - or before, depending on which day of the week the birthday actually falls on.

JezusDeKoning · « **Reply #2 on:** March 10, 2015, 02:44:55 PM »

Quote from: Stubborn

We always celebrate on the Sunday after - or before, depending on which day of the week the birthday actually falls on.

Essentially, this. This is how we do things in my family in general - not only because my own mother's birthday can fall during Lent, but because it's easier overall.

songbird · « **Reply #3 on:** March 10, 2015, 10:17:56 PM »

Sundays of Lent are no fast days.