Lent Begins with Prayers and Pledges at ECCSS
by Jessica Fritz | Mar 6, 2025 | News |
With Ash Wednesday marking the start of the Lenten season, the students and staff at Elk County Catholic High School and Saint Marys Catholic Middle School are again using the 40 days of Lent as a time for prayer, reflection, and good works. For the past two years, the school’s Lenten efforts have come under the banner of “Crusader 40,” and that theme continues for this year. For the Lenten season 2025, the Crusader 40 catchphrase is “40 Days of Truth or Dare and a Brown Scapular to Wear.”
For the Crusader 40 program this year, each day will begin with a truth for students to reflect upon and a dare for the students. The Ash Wednesday truth was for students to reflect on how often they smile at people. Students are then asked to write a short reflection based on the daily prompt. Students then are issued a dare for the day – the Ash Wednesday dare was for students to go out of their way to smile at others throughout the day. Each day of Lent, students will receive a dare for the day designed to help them grow in their faith. Each dare is accompanied with an inspiration, For Ash Wednesday, the inspiration comes through a quote from Saint Teresa of Calcutta: “Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.”
In addition to the daily truth and dare, Father Kevin Holland blessed Mt. Carmel brown scapulars at the end of Mass and encouraged students to wear them daily during Lent and beyond.
On Ash Wednesday, students affirmed their commitment to the Crusader 40 program by completing a written pledge.
In addition to Crusader 40, Lenten observances will be marked with traditional devotions, including praying the rosary and Stations of the Cross at the school chapel and the outdoor stations on the grounds of Saint Mary’s Church.
