This coming week is Holy Week, the high point of Lent, the final preparation for Easter. Some things have changed during Lent: daily Mass attendance has increased; many went to Confession more frequently; we have cut back on food and given the savings to charity; we have attended the Stations of the Cross and visited the Eucharistic Adoration Chapel more often. But everything around us goes on as usual, which makes it harder for us to keep focused on the crucial 40 days before Christ’s supreme sacrifice, His death on the Cross followed by His triumph over death, His glorious Resurrection.

Have you noticed how our lives seem to have become flat? I mean, we do the same things every day; we eat the same foods year-round; days and events seem to rush at us so fast that we have no time to savor the preparation. We seem to have no time to “anticipate” great events. Think about it: do you remember when we used to eat certain foods only during a particular season? For example, when I was a child (I know, when Noah was on the ark), grapes were only available in the fall. We looked forward to them and appreciated their goodness because we had not eaten them for a full ten months. The same for oranges, strawberries, etc. You know what I mean. Today, we can buy grapes, oranges, etc. any time and we have lost the feeling of “special.” What’s so special about something we can have every day? We could say the same with movies: we used to have to go to the theater, and never more often than once a week. A movie was a special treat. Now … where am I going with this? I’m going back to savor some of the special times, the slow anticipation and preparation for a feast: Easter.

Centuries ago, when times were rough and there were no movies, no TVs, etc. evenings, especially in the winter, were a time to pray, to reflect, to prepare and folks did this. They thought of ways to make things special, and so the Lenten season was meaningful, more “present” and brought to life many traditions that are still cherished in many small towns all over Italy. One of them, which involved children, was the preparation of the Sepulchers. Right after Ash Wednesday, we would take some containers (old food cans), fill them with soil and plenty of seeds: mostly wheat, but also lentils or barley, and we put them in a very dark spot, the darker, the better. We gave them water, but no light. It seemed strange to us that these poor seeds, kept in the dark, no heat, would come to life at all, but they did. They started to poke up their little heads fairly soon, and by the time Holy Thursday arrived, if we hadn’t forgotten to water them, and if hadn’t peeked too often, they’d form a white, that’s right white, soft carpet. What did we do with them? We’d take them to church, where they were used to prepare the Sepulcher where a Crucifix would be laid on Good Friday for all to go and venerate.

How did this tradition start? I’m not sure, but we all know that the grain of wheat that is buried, dies and sprouts again, to bring forth many more grains of wheat represents the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord: that’s clear. In the old days, there were also many more small farmers than there are these days. It was a tradition that, after Good Friday, the farming families went back to pick up their sprouts and plant them in their fields, confident that, after being so close to the Lord, they would bless all their crops. Many centuries later, for us kids the white sprouts were a miracle. We couldn’t get over the color and the fact that the seeds sprouted and grew at all, in that dark and cold cupboard

The food stores also told us we were in Lent. Piles of smelly-old salted cod appeared everywhere. Mother used to buy some, soak it in water, squeeze it out, and cook it with tomato sauce and… raisins. Ugh! Only she and dad ate it. We could not get over the smell.

Then there are miraculous events that take place in different towns or villages during Lent. One such is The Sacred Thorn of Andria, in Puglia. Tradition has it that this wicked-looking, four-inch long thorn, which is kept in a reliquary in the Cathedral, was a gift of one of the old French kings. The first phenomenon concerning this relic was recorded in 1633, but it is supposed that it happened before then. The thorn is grey in color, with four purple spots clearly visible on two sides, plus a number of smaller spots. When, and only when, Good Friday coincides with the Feast of the Annunciation, that is, March 25 (this happens every 11 years), the spots bleed. The Bishop of Andria and many others, were present the last time this happened, on March 25, 2005, Good Friday, when it “bled” for 14 hours. However, it had not done so since March 25, 1932. The next time that Good Friday will fall on March 25 is 2016. Will the Sacred Thorn bleed again? We don’t know. Is it one of the Thorns that crowned the head of our Lord? We don’t know, but it sure acts like it! There are “Sacred Thorns” venerated as relics of our Lord in many towns and villages in Italy. Tradition has it that they were brought back from the Holy Land at the times of the Crusades. With other relics of Jesus’ Passion, such as the Shroud, the Sudarium and the Nails, the Sacred Thorns make Lent visible and real.