One year I gave up swearing and priced my cuss-words according to severity from 10p to 50p. I didn't think I was very sweary but the collection plate got over £35 on Easter Sunday and I was so embarrassed that I changed my potty-mouth ways for good!
There is a bit of a get-out clause which I only realised a few years back when I did the maths... Lent is supposed to be 40 days, yes? Google it...
"In the Roman Rite since 1970,
Lent starts on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Thursday Evening (before the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper). This comprises a period of 44 days. The
Lenten fast excludes
Sundays and continues through Good Friday and Holy Saturday, totalling 40 days."
So in theory you can have a bit of Chocolate on the Sundays which helps if you're hankering all week. Mothering Sunday also falls in Lent (at least here in the UK it does) and there is a tradition of a Simnel cake with marzipan topping. Our Church usually shares one after the service
The trend in recent years is to 'take up' something for lent rather than give up something. So for the religious you might take up starting/ending the day with 5 minutes of prayer, or taking time each day to read a bit of the bible. Or reaching out to one person each day by text/phone/letter/visit to make sure they are doing OK. Hubs isn't churchy but he's aiming for his 10,000 steps each day. Son is going to increase harmony in the home by remembering to close doors behind him - because when you're all shivering downstairs despite the heating being on for hours and you realise that
someone has left
both the bathroom window
and the bathroom door wide open it's very hard to keep your temper! I think it's a good exercise for all!
