{"id":7980,"date":"2026-02-17T22:25:43","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T22:25:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/?p=7980"},"modified":"2026-04-01T19:26:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T19:26:03","slug":"lent2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/2026\/02\/17\/lent2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Lent at Saint Matthew"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"max-width:1144px;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_2_3 2_3 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:66.666666666667%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:2.88%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:2.88%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><h2 class=\"fusion-responsive-typography-calculated\" data-fontsize=\"52\" data-lineheight=\"62.4px\">Lent at Saint Matthew<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Ash Wednesday<\/strong>\u00a0is February 18, marking the beginning of the Lenten season in the Church. Here is our liturgy schedule for the day:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>6:30 a.m. Liturgy of the Word with Distribution of Ashes<\/li>\n<li>8 a.m. \u2013 Mass (all school Mass)<\/li>\n<li>Noon \u2013 Mass<\/li>\n<li>7 p.m. \u2013 Mass (with incense)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Adoration and Confession will begin at 6 p.m. as usual on Ash Wednesday. The 8 a.m. Mass will be livestreamed. Ash Wednesday is not a Holy Day of Obligation, but is strongly encouraged as it helps transition into the new liturgical season.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/2026\/02\/09\/4234\/\"><strong>Stations of the Cross<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0will be held every Friday during Lent at 6 p.m. On Good Friday, (April 3), the Stations will be held at 3 p.m. in the Grotto (weather permitting).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fish Fries<\/strong>\u00a0will be held on Friday, Feb. 20, and Friday, March 27. These are sponsored by the Saint Matthew Men\u2019s Club. Meals cost $10 each. Pre-orders are not required but greatly appreciated.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/2026\/02\/05\/mens-club-fish-fries-2026\/\">See the menu and place your preorders here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Our\u00a0<strong>Lenten Study Group\u00a0<\/strong>will meet on Tuesday evenings during Lent starting February 24,\u00a0 from 7:30-9 p.m. They will utilized the Formed.org series\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/watch.formed.org\/fearless-a-lenten-video-series\">Fearless<\/a> and it\u2019s accompanying study guide. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/2026\/02\/10\/fearless\/\">Learn more and register here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Our\u00a0<strong>Lenten Penance Service<\/strong>\u00a0will be held Tuesday, February 24, at 5:30 p.m. in the Church. Several visiting priest will be available. Please plan to attend.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mary\u2019s Way of the Cross\u00a0<\/strong>is a unique way to pray the Stations of the Cross. Join Saint Gianna Circle as they walk along the Stations of the Cross experiencing our Blessed Mother\u2019s thoughts and feelings. This beautiful and powerful reflection will enhance your Lenten journey. Gather at 2:15 p.m. on Friday, March 6, in the Grotto. This is a great opportunity for parents to pray together before school pickup.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Soup and Stations<\/strong>\u00a0is returning on Friday, March 6. Plan to attend Stations of the Cross at 6 p.m. and stick around for a delicious community meal. The event is free, however\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dioceseofnashville.ccbchurch.com\/goto\/forms\/1039\/responses\/new\">RSVP\u2019s are requested<\/a>\u00a0to ensure we have adequate food for our community.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Holy Week and Easter Mass Schedules<\/strong> are available by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/2026\/03\/15\/holy-week-schedule-2\/\">clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-1 fusion_builder_column_1_3 1_3 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:33.333333333333%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:5.76%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:5.76%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-image-element \" style=\"--awb-caption-title-font-family:var(--h2_typography-font-family);--awb-caption-title-font-weight:var(--h2_typography-font-weight);--awb-caption-title-font-style:var(--h2_typography-font-style);--awb-caption-title-size:var(--h2_typography-font-size);--awb-caption-title-transform:var(--h2_typography-text-transform);--awb-caption-title-line-height:var(--h2_typography-line-height);--awb-caption-title-letter-spacing:var(--h2_typography-letter-spacing);\"><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-1 hover-type-none\"><a class=\"fusion-no-lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/files\/2026\/02\/Lent-Events-1.png\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"Lent Events\"><img width=\"600\" height=\"776\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/files\/2026\/02\/Lent-Events-1-600x776.png\" alt class=\"img-responsive wp-image-7965\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/files\/2026\/02\/Lent-Events-1-200x259.png 200w, https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/files\/2026\/02\/Lent-Events-1-400x518.png 400w, https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/files\/2026\/02\/Lent-Events-1-600x776.png 600w, https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/files\/2026\/02\/Lent-Events-1-800x1035.png 800w, https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/files\/2026\/02\/Lent-Events-1-1200x1553.png 1200w, https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/files\/2026\/02\/Lent-Events-1.png 1545w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7981,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[164,163,153,159,162,154,113,160,161],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7980"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7980"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8115,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7980\/revisions\/8115"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stmatthewtn.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}