On 17 January 1882 Bishop Martin Crane, the first Bishop of Sandhurst, (by the Grace of God and favour of the Apostolic See), penned a Pastoral Letter to the Clergy and Laity of the Diocese of Sandhurst, which included the Regulations of Lent and encouragement to commit to them.
"Wherefore, dearly beloved, entrusted as we are with the care of your immortal souls, for which a rigorous account must one day be rendered, we exhort you, with all our zeal in the language of inspiration — Delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer it not from day to day, for His wrath shall come on a sudden, and in the time of His vengeance He will destroy thee — [Eccles.5,8,9]."
By today's standards this Pastoral Letter seems rather menacing and the regulations for lent, which itemise who can eat eggs and when, for example seem particularly prescriptive — especially when compared with Pope Francis' visionary Message for Lent this year in which he refers to Lent as a "season of conversion, a time of freedom." — "In Lent, we find new riteria of juistce and a community with which we can press forward on a road not yet, taken."
Nevertheless, despite the passage of time, and transformation in Catholic outlook, there is still much to be learned from Bishop Crane's letter to his dearly beloved people of Sandhurst and it proves a colourful and thought-provoking read.
Bishop Crane's Pastoral Letter — Regulations of Lent, 1882
" ... Without interfering with the law of Fast, which we wish should remain in its full vigour, we deem it advisable, in consequence of the circumstances of this country, to grant every possible relaxation in the law of abstinence. Wherefore, in virtue of the powers received from Rome, we grant the following dispensations: Flesh meat is allowed on all days in Lent, Wednesdays and Fridays excepted. Eggs are also allowed on all the days of Lent, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday excepted ..."
pdf Read Bishop Crane's Pastoral Letter of 1882 (1005 KB)
Message of the Holy Father Francis for Lent 2024 — Through the Desert God Leads us to Freedom
" ... prayer, almsgiving and fasting are not three unrelated acts, but a single movement of openness and self-emptying, in which we cast out the idols that weigh us down, the attachments that imprison us. Then the atrophied and isolated heart will revive. Slow down, then, and pause! The contemplative dimension of life that Lent helps us to rediscover will release new energies. In the presence of God, we become brothers and sisters, more sensitive to one another: in place of threats and enemies, we discover companions and fellow travelers. This is God's dream, the promised land to which we journey once we have left our slavery behind."
