Graphic by Gabby Gagnon ‘24
By Mimi Huckins ‘21
Features Editor
Last Wednesday, Feb. 17, marked Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. Lent continues until Easter Sunday, and for many practicing Christians and especially Catholics, sacrifices are made for these 40 days in order to represent Jesus’ sacrifice when he spent 40 days praying and fasting in the desert. This year everyone has had to sacrifice many things due to the pandemic. Students, for one, have lost multiple aspects of their social and educational lives. For some, that includes deferring college for a semester or even an entire year. Despite the countless sacrifices already forced upon us, Catholics at Mount Holyoke are finding new importance in Lent, a holiday of sacrifice.
Maggie Murphy ’21 is co-chair of the Mount Holyoke College Catholic Community. Since COVID-19 started, the religious group has adjusted to a virtual world. Mass, previously in person, is now a weekly Sunday prayer service over Zoom. Almost a year ago, Lent was occurring while COVID-19 cases were increasing in the United States. It was during this time that Mount Holyoke students received word that classes would move online and students would move off campus.
“I remember last year during Lent, this time of year, we were like, ‘Wow, this is the luckiest Lent, ever,’ because you’re forced to give up so much,” Murphy recalled. With the start of this Lent holiday, it feels different. “A lot of us are sort of joking that Lent never ended,” Murphy said. So while COVID-19 has forced people into a sort of year-long Lent, for some, it has also changed the way they will participate this year.
Some Catholics at Mount Holyoke are focusing on intention rather than sacrifice. “I think especially this year, I’ve heard more about intention. It’s sort of like a way that we can use [Lent] to be positive during this time, when it sort of has this reputation of being somber and dark,” Murphy said.
Elle Bukosky ’22 has prepared for Lent by giving up small things all year. She emphasized the importance of sacrifice, noting that simple gestures like cutting back on candy might miss the point of the observation. “The point of Lent is that [it’s] having some kind of impact on your soul. Not eating chocolate isn’t impacting my soul,” she explained.
Since her sophomore year, Murphy has been thinking similarly. “I remember my freshman year, I think I gave up Netflix. … My sophomore year, I switched to intention, and I decided to read more. So I picked up a fiction book from the library. … Having set that intention of reading more meant I watched less Netflix, so it’s sort of the same result,” Murphy said.
As for this year, Murphy intends to remember every day. Because of the pandemic, people are spending every day in the same place and with far less social interactions now more than ever. “Our brains rely on variable location and interactions, that kind of stuff, to make memories,” Murphy explained. “Our brains are literally making less memories this year. We are literally not remembering things. So something that I’m trying to do is — whether that’s making a painting every day or accomplishing a task in a video game or trying a new recipe — I’m trying to do things to make sure I’m living with intention and trying to remember every day.”
This year Bukosky intends to write letters every week. “I decided that every week I’m going to write two letters to people that I wouldn’t necessarily write a letter to,” Bukosky said. In the past, Bukosky has given compliments every day for Lent.
Kyra Ceryanek ’24, another member of the Mount Holyoke Catholic Community, is also taking on challenges this year instead of sacrificing something. For Lent, Ceryanek has chosen to attend every Sunday Catholic Community prayer service and is also intending to pray more consistently.
“In past years I have given up things such as certain social media platforms and foods I really liked,” Ceryanek said. “As my faith has grown as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized the importance and opportunities that come with Lent.”
“I think, as a society and as a church culture, we put a lot more value on the concepts of sacrifice, like it’s more noble to sacrifice. But it’s sort of shifting out of that,” Murphy said. She believes that the prevalent idea that sacrifice during Lent is the “right way” to be a Catholic is untrue and that there are many ways to be a Catholic.
“You can also live fully in your faith through living with intention and being positive and putting yourself out there in a way,” Murphy said.
Ceryanek feels similarly about the common idea that you must sacrifice for Lent. “Many people believe that Lent is strict[ly] about giving something up, but really you can either add something that you may want to continue after Lent or give something up to feel the pain that Jesus felt when he fasted and prayed in the desert for 40 days,” Ceryanek said.
Still, despite entering Lent with positivity and intention, there are still sacrifices that remain. “I think the pandemic has created distance not only between people, … but also people and their religion in the sense that they can’t go to their religious spaces,” Bukosky said.
Yet during these hard times, some are feeling stronger in their faith. “Lent feels very different for me this year because I am not able to attend church in person,” Ceryanek said. “I have noticed that in this time where it is more difficult to go to church in person, my faith has grown stronger. I appreciate Mass a lot more than I feel I did before the pandemic and I am very excited for when I can return for Mass in person.”