A knot in my nun

By Anthony English

I'll let you in on a secret. We have six nuns at home and we take pleasure in tying them up. Don't be too shocked. We only do it in Lent. As penance.

Let me explain.

As Lent began, one of the mothers in our home schooling support group arranged for the children to colour in pictures of nuns. One nun each, and some of them were coloured a little ... exotically. Each of the nuns has a string hanging from her waist, and each nun has seven feet. So far, nothing unusual. (I know a real live six-foot nun).

Well, as children make little sacrifices during Lent, they tie a knot in the string of their nun. Typically the sacrifices are letting a sibling go first at some activity, or allowing someone else to have the last biscuit (which, as you might surmise, wasn't something to be given up for Lent). And the seven feet get coloured in, one by one, as each week of Lent passes. The good sisters don't seem to mind.

Bound for Easter

It's been encouraging to see that the Lenten momentum hasn't all run out of steam after Ash Wednesday. It's also good to see that the sacrifices weren't all limited to giving up something, but are focused a little on fraternal charity.

When Fr. Z asked his blog readers how their Lent was going, the most common response was "Okay. However, I have fallen down in what I planned, but started again."

I suppose we all can do with little reminders on what the Church calls "this joyful season of Lent", and a knot in your nun is as good a way as I can think of.

If you'd like to make your own nun please visit Raising Wahooligans in the Bohemian Desert