23/02/2026
2026 STRATEGIC LIFE-CHANGING LENTEN PROGRAMME:
Week One: Sunday, 22nd February – Saturday, 28th February.
1) Social Media Abstinence. This does not mean avoiding calls, especially official and necessary ones. It merely means refraining from spending unnecessary time making calls and surfing the internet, particularly social sites like Facebook and TikTok.
First Hour: 6.00 AM – 7.00 AM
Second Hour: 12 noon – 1.00 PM
Third Hour: 3.00 PM – 4.00 PM
Fourth Hour: 6.00 PM – 7.00 PM.
These special hours are particularly meaningful for Catholics. Whether attending morning Mass, midday Mass, praying the Divine Mercy, evening Mass, the Angelus, or the Stations of the Cross, dedicating this time enhances our spiritual focus. During these periods, avoiding phone calls and social media helps us remain conscious of these activities within the Catholic Church across Nigeria and worldwide. It is likely you will be engaged in one of these spiritual activities during these hours. I recommend complete abstinence from using your phone for any reason during these times. To prevent temptations, set your phone to aeroplane mode or DND. This means that across the forty days, we will be sacrificing four hours each day without phone use.
Make these hours meaningful in your spiritual life—offer the Angelus, attend Mass, pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet, recite your Rosary, or meditate on Sacred Scriptures. Feel free to do more than suggested!
2) Corporal Works of Mercy for Week One: Feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty.
Carry out these acts intentionally and personally. Only doing it for someone who can afford their own meal isn’t the point. The act should be sacrificial, like taking someone who is truly in need out for lunch or sharing raw food. This could include your workers, strangers, or anyone in need. Remember, do it yourself. If possible, complete this act daily for seven days; if not, aim for at least three times this week.
3) Corporal Sacrifice for the Week: Food fast from 6.00 AM to 1.00 PM
No fast on Sundays, nor for those on medication. Such individuals should abstain from meat, fish, eggs, drinks, snacks, and dairy during these hours. Every Friday, all participants abstain from meat, fish, eggs, drinks, snacks, and dairy. Those outside Nigeria may apply their local time zones.
Note: Drinking water is permitted at any time and is not part of the fast.
4) Spiritual Sacrifice for the Week:
Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 2.00 PM, 3.00 PM, or 6.00 PM., at least four times this week.
5) Intercessory Prayers: Pray earnestly daily for your spiritual renewal and growth.
6) Spiritual Works of Mercy for the Week: Be especially committed to:
a) Bearing wrongs patiently and forgiving offences willingly. If you hold grudges, try to let them go, reconcile, and avoid going to bed hurt.
b) Comfort the afflicted: reach out via phone calls and personal visits to those who are bereaved or suffering. Be present to those in need of attention, care, and encouragement.
c) Praying for the living and the dead: arrange Masses for departed souls, including your own relatives and friends, and support burial expenses when possible.
7) Midnight Prayer Watch for the Week: Thursday, 26th February, from 11.30 PM to 12.30 AM.
Start with five decades of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, meditating deeply. Pray the Litany. Reflect on Roman 12:1-2, and assess your spiritual journey. Be honest about your progress. Pray for spiritual renewal and growth, concluding with this declaration from 1 Corinthians 2:2:
“All I desire is to know nothing but Christ crucified” - (12x)
*Note* This may arrive late, but you can begin tomorrow. Feel free to share this with others. It promises to enrich our Lenten season.
I will send the plan for next week on Saturday, 28th February.
_From Fr. Celestine Eze_
