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| The Forgotten Feasts of Lent’s Fridays |
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Posted by: Stone - Yesterday, 10:17 AM - Forum: Lenten Devotions
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The Forgotten Feasts of Lent’s Fridays
TIA | March 23, 2026
Our Holy Mother Church has given so many rich liturgical ceremonies and feasts to the season of Lent! While the ceremonies of Holy Week and the Triduum are widely known, there are other feasts of lesser degree that were once commonly celebrated in many churches to increase devotion to Our Lord’s Passion.
In the Middle Ages devotion to the instruments of Christ’s Passion was widely spread. These instruments were called Arma Christi, the Arms or Weapons of Christ,” and included the Holy Cross, Lance, Nails and Crown of Thorns. Medieval men had such a sublime view of Our Lord that they saw Him as the victorious Warrior King who vanquished Sin, Death and the Devil.
![[Image: D095_Arm.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_A-E/D095_Arm.jpg)
Arma Christi, from a 15th century Book of Hours
They understood that the instruments of His Passion, although seemingly signs of ignominy, were glorious since they were the weapons Our Lord had used to gain the Victory. Just as every earthly King bears his arms before him as he rides into battle, so also did Our Lord bear His arms as he entered the Battlefield of Calvary. This symbols were used by countless Catholic Kings and soldiers who bore the Arma Christi on their banners and shields.
The Crusades inspire zeal for the Passion
It was during the Crusades, when zeal and holy ambitions raised such epic horizons for the glory of God, that relics of Our Lord’s Passion were found and triumphantly brought to the cities of Christendom. Kings and Crusaders who had fought bravely against the Moors were thus instrumental in spreading love of the Cross and veneration for Our Lord’s Passion.
The feast of the Crown of Thorns was inaugurated by King St. Louis in 1239 when he brought a relic of the Crown of Thorns along with a point of the Holy Lance to the Sainte Chapelle in Paris. This event was commemorated each year on August 11 and the feast soon spread throughout northern France. In the following century parts of Spain, Germany and Scandinavia also established a Feast of the Holy Crown on May 4.
![[Image: D095_Cru.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_A-E/D095_Cru.jpg)
Crusaders embark for the Holy Land,
below, St. Louis carrying the relic of the Crown of Thorns
![[Image: D095_Lou.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_A-E/D095_Lou.jpg)
As early as 1092, a feast of the Winding Sheet (Shroud) was celebrated in Compiègne, France on the Fourth Sunday in Lent to commemorate the translation of a relic of the Shroud to a new shrine. This relic, whose origins are unknown, had been brought to Compiègne from Aachen in 877.
In 1204, after taking part in the siege of Constantinople, the crusader Otto de La Roche obtained the precious relic of the Shroud of Christ, which he displayed in Athens where he had been appointed Lord. Around the year 1225, he brought this relic to Besançon; thereafter the feast of its arrival – Susceptio – was celebrated on July 11 in the Diocese of Besançon.
Geoffroy de Charny, a knight renowned for his courage in battle, brought the Shroud to Livrey, Burgundy, around the year 1353. How he acquired this relic is unknown, but there is a convincing hypothesis that he obtained it from his wife, Jeanne de Vergy, who was a descendent of Otto de La Roche. Its authenticity has been attested to by miracles and it is known as the Shroud of Turin.
In 1432, the Shroud was transferred to Chambéry in Savoy, and May 4 became the patronal feast of the royal House of Savoy; it was celebrated in Savoy, Piedmont and Sardinia.
The Holy Lance
The relic of the Holy Lance is still somewhat shrouded in mystery. By the end of the Middle Ages several spearheads emerged, each with claims to be authentic and each popularly venerated as the one owned by Longinus.
One of these spearheads was discovered by the Crusaders in the year 1098 under the Cathedral of St. Peter in Antioch through a revelation of St. Andrew. Animated by the discovery, the Crusaders went on with newfound courage and zeal to win a glorious victory against the Muslims who were seeking to retake the city.
Years later the spear fell into the hands of Turks until the year 1492, when the Sultan Bajazet sent it to Innocent VIII. This relic has never since left Rome, where it is preserved under the dome of St. Peter's. Popes and scholars have defended it as being the authentic Holy Lance.
![[Image: D095_HLa.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_A-E/D095_HLa.jpg)
A Canon at St. Peter’s Basilica lifts the Holy Lance relic to be venerated by the public – Lent 2024
Another spearhead is preserved among the Imperial Insignia at Vienna and is known as the Lance of St. Maurice. This weapon was used as early as 1273 in the coronation ceremony of the Holy Roman German Emperor. In 1424, it was brought to Nuremberg and is believed to be the lance of Emperor Constantine, which enshrined a nail of the Crucifixion. Tradition holds that it was this lance that Charlemagne carried on his 47 victorious campaigns to unite Europe under the Catholic Church; thus it became a sacred relic of the Holy Roman Emperors.
The Lance in Vienna surely must be a sacred relic relating to Our Lord’s Passion, even though it does not seem to be the one that pierced Our Lord’s side. Regardless of the origins popular devotion led to the establishment of a liturgical feast in 1345. Pope Innocent VI instituted the Feast of the Holy Lance and Nails for Germany and Bohemia at the request of Emperor Charles IV, who enshrined the lance at Vienna in a distinctive gold cuff so that it could receive due honor. Soon, the Feast spread to other areas.
The first record known of a Feast of the Arma Christi is found in the Breviary of Meissen (1517) where it is listed as a Festum Simplex for November 15. As Lutheranism spread its poisonous doctrine, this Feast, along with many of the others, disappeared. But Our Lord gave the world a great Saint in the 18th century who would restore some o the ancient fervor for His Passion.
St. Paul of the Cross revives devotion to the Passion
In the 1700s, St. Paul of the Cross founded the Discalced Clerics of the Holy Cross and the Passion of Christ, the Passionists. In addition to the three ordinary vows of religion, the Passionists took a fourth vow – to propagate devotion to the Sacred Passion of Our Lord.
![[Image: D095_Paul.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_A-E/D095_Paul.jpg)
St. Paul of the Cross, founder of the Passionists
They did this admirably, being led on by their heroic founder whom Dom Guéranger describes: “A new Paul, recalling both in his name and his works the great Apostle of the Gentiles, rises in the midst of a generation intoxicated with pride and falsehood, to whom the Cross has become once more a folly and a scandal.” (The Liturgical Year, vol. VIII, p. 364)
Thus, St. Paul of the Cross, together with Bishop Thomas Struzzieri, composed an Office for the Feast of the Commemoration of Our Lord’s Passion and brought it to Pope Pius VI, who approved its use by the Passionist Order, which celebrated it as a double of the first class with an octave. In Rome, this feast was established as the Tuesday of Sexagesima
At the same time he authorized this Feast, Pius VI also approved the other Offices and feasts associated with Our Lord’s Passion:- The Feast of the Prayer of Our Lord in the Garden (Tuesday after Septuagesima);
- The Feast of the Crown of Thorns (Friday after Ash-Wednesday);
- The Feast of the Holy Lance and Nails (Friday after the first Sunday in Lent):
- For the three following Fridays, the Feasts of the Holy Winding Sheet, the Five Wounds and the Precious Blood of Christ.
These feasts were adopted by many Dioceses and Religious Orders. In 1831, Rome added the seven Offices of the Mysteries of the Passion of Christ to the Breviary.
Restoration of devotion to the Passion
In his Apostolic Constitution Divino afflatu, Pope St. Pius X stressed the importance of the ancient ferial offices, including those of Lent, which were seldom being said due to the great number of other feasts celebrated throughout the year. This caused the Friday offices of Lent to regain their places of honor, resulting in the offices of the mysteries of the Passion being seldom said. The offices of the Passion were, however, still given the honor of being present in the Missal under the feasts pro Aliquibus Locis, which were celebrated in some places.
![[Image: D095_Wro.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_A-E/D095_Wro.jpg)
Votive panel, Wrocław, 1443
Suppression & invitation
John XIII’s 1960 Rubrics led to the suppression of these feasts altogether unless “truly special reasons” required their continued observance. Naturally, the result was that they were almost entirely forgotten.
It is a great tragedy that the ancient sources of true doctrine and liturgy have been lost or hidden due to the apostasy of the Church Hierarchy. And yet, all is not lost if fervent Catholics re-discover those sources and regain the spirit of the love of the Cross. Through the intercession of Our Lady Co-Redemptrix, may this spirit once again fill the hearts of Catholics with a desire to honor once again the Arma Cristi.
For such Catholics, below are links to documents with the Mass readings for each feast day provided by the Society of St. Bede:
The Prayer of Our Lord in the Garden (Tuesday or Friday after Septuagesima)
The Commemoration of the Passion of Our Lord (Tuesday or Friday after Sexagesima)
The Most Holy Crown of Thorns (Friday after Ash Wednesday)
The Most Sacred Lance and Nails (Friday in the First Week of Lent)
The Most Holy Winding Sheet (Friday in the Second Week of Lent)
The Holy Five Wounds of Our Lord (Friday in the Third Week of Lent)
The Most Precious Blood of Our Lord (Friday in the Fourth Week of Lent)
A PDF including Matins readings for all the above Feasts: Matins Readings for the Feasts of Our Lord’s Passion, can be found here.
![[Image: D095_Coa.jpg]](https://traditioninaction.org/religious/images_A-E/D095_Coa.jpg)
Coat of Arms of Christ
Wernigerode/Schaffhausen Armorial, c. 1490
Sources:
Francis X Weiser, The Easter Book (San Diego, California: The Firefly Press, 1996), p. 49.
http://www.foodsofengland.co.uk/carlinpe...adgers.htm
E. I. Robson, A Guide to French Fêtes (London: Methuen and Company, 1930), p. 55.
W.M. Hackwood, Christ Lore: Being the Legends, Traditions, Myths, Symbols, Customs, and Superstitions of the Christian Church (London: Elliot Stock, 1902), p. 159.
Erna Fergusson, Fiesta in Mexico (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1934), p. 237.
http://www.allthesaintsyoushouldknow.com...exico-city.
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| Biden CIA saw traditional family values as sign of white ‘extremism’: leaked memo |
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Posted by: Stone - Yesterday, 09:46 AM - Forum: General Commentary
- No Replies
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Biden CIA saw traditional family values as sign of white ‘extremism’: leaked memo
The Trump administration has retracted a Biden-era CIA document that said 'traditional motherhood' and 'homemaking' were signs of white extremism.
![[Image: shutterstock_2395146629.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/shutterstock_2395146629.jpg)
Central Intelligence Agency logo
Shutterstock
Mar 21, 2026
(LifeSiteNews [adapted - not all hyperlinks included from original]) — The FBI under the direction of the Biden administration shocked the world when a leaked document showed the intelligence agency had branded Latin Mass Catholics as likely “violent extremists.”
Now another equally shocking CIA internal memo has been unearthed by the Trump administration which shows that under Biden, the CIA had warned that “traditional motherhood” and “homemaking” are signs of white extremism.
America First Legal (AFL), which published on X a lengthy thread concerning the disturbing CIA memo, said, “The intelligence assessment reveals the top-to-bottom bias at Biden’s CIA.”
“An agency with critical intelligence responsibilities was spending its resources targeting women promoting motherhood,” noted AFL.
The assessment focuses on those that “believe that their perception of an idealized white European ethnic identity is under attack from people who embody and support multiculturalism and globalization.”
Titled, “Women Advancing White Racially and Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremist Radicalization and Recruitment,” the 11-page 2021 document starts, “We assess that female members have been emerging as key players of the transnational white racially and ethnically motivated violent extremist (REMVE) movement, taking on diverse roles to advance white REMVE goals – including the white REMVE view of traditional motherhood – and successfully participating in newer roles in propaganda and recruitment.”
“White RMVEs and their sympathizers have claimed in online posts that it is essential for white families to have as many biological children as possible to counter the rising birthrates among non-white populations; white REMVEs allege that this rise is a conspiracy, which they have termed the ‘great replacement,’ according to an Open Source Enterprise assessment,” the memo asserts.
By page 2 of the document, the CIA frets that REMVEs have “lauded motherhood and homemaking as women’s most important responsibility.”
The Trump administration has retracted the Biden-era CIA document.
“U.S. intelligence agencies exist to protect Americans – not target them,” noted AFL on X.
“This is what happens when woke ideology replaces actual threat-based intelligence collection and analysis,” Gene Hamilton, president of America First Legal, told The Daily Signal.
“The Biden administration was obsessed with deconstructing our country,” said Hamilton. “Motherhood was suspect. Homemaking was suspect. Everyday Americans were suspect. Under the Biden administration, mainstream American life was turned into a threat profile. We should never forget how deep the rot went.”
“I’m … not a target, right? RIGHT?” wrote Legal Insurrection’s Mary Chastain in a tongue-in-cheek commentary.
“I’m a traditionalist. I honestly believe that a woman should stay home once she has children. And yes, you should have children. Children are wonderful and a blessing,” she explained.
“Yeah, I’d believe that if Biden’s administration didn’t demonize parents who tried to hold school boards accountable or spy on Catholics who hold traditions and prefer the Latin Mass,” said Chastain.
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| Bills in 3 states would declare COVID mRNA shots ‘weapons of mass destruction’ |
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Posted by: Stone - Yesterday, 09:41 AM - Forum: Health
- No Replies
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Bills in 3 states would declare COVID mRNA shots ‘weapons of mass destruction’
Lawmakers in Tennessee, Arizona, and Minnesota have introduced legislation to prohibit the possession and distribution of dangerous mRNA shots, which are linked to thousands of deaths.
![[Image: shutterstock_2466627583.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/shutterstock_2466627583.jpg)
COVID shot
PeopleImages/Shutterstock
Mar 23, 2026
(LifeSiteNews [adapted - not all hyperlinks from original included below]) — Three U.S. states – Minnesota, Arizona, and Tennessee – have now introduced legislation designating COVID-19 mRNA injections as “Biological Weapons of Mass Destruction.”
Last year, Minnesota was the first to propose a law criminalizing mRNA jabs, followed by Arizona earlier this year and now Tennessee. Idaho, Iowa, Montana, South Carolina and Tennessee had previously sought to restrict the use of mRNA technology.
“As all of these declarations mount, it’s only a matter of time before these injections become outlawed,” predicted Nicolas Hulscher, MPH, epidemiologist and administrator at the McCullough Foundation, in a recent podcast.
Hulscher noted that if the Arizona bill gets enacted into law, “Possessing, distributing, or manufacturing these shots will constitute terrorism-related charges and life imprisonment.”
“And rightfully so,” he added, “given that these shots have killed, injured, and disabled millions upon millions of people across the globe, rivaling hundreds of Hiroshima nuclear attacks.”
Hulscher has previously asserted that the “COVID-19 mRNA Injections violate the Biological Weapons Convention, Nuremberg Code, Helsinki Declaration, and U.S. Constitution.”
The Minnesota bill clearly states, “It is the intent of the legislature to designate mRNA injections and products as weapons of mass destruction.”
Tennessee’s bill, known as the “mRNA Bioweapons Prohibition Act,” which was introduced last week, prohibits “the manufacture, acquisition, possession, or making accessible to others of mRNA injections and products; requires state and local government officials to use all lawful means necessary to investigate or enforce suspected violations; punishes violations the same as manufacturing, acquiring, possessing, or transferring a weapon of mass destruction, which is a Class B felony.”
mRNA vaccines ‘were never safe nor effective’
mRNA-based injections instruct human cells to produce a genetically engineered version of coronavirus “spike protein” in order to trigger an immune system response.
Developers of the mRNA vaccines failed to foresee that, once inside the body, the repeated development of the spike proteins can’t be controlled. For some recipients of the vaccines, their bodies became a human factory for the production of the spike protein, able to travel via the bloodstream from the injection site to their entire body, including major organs, the brain, liver, spleen, bone marrow, and reproductive organs.
As the immune system does its job attacking the cells it recognizes as “infected” due to the presence of the spike proteins, it attacks those organs and tissues, causing inflammation, myocarditis, and grotesque blood clots.
LifeSiteNews reported last fall that more than 81,000 physicians, scientists, researchers, and concerned citizens, 240 elected government officials, and 17 professional public health and physician organizations have demanded withdrawal of the COVID-19 shots from the market.
The total number of COVID-19 shot deaths reported to VAERS-adjusted deaths exceeds 589,000 in the U.S. and 17 million around the globe.
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