Traditions and recipes for the Lenten dinner table

Gathering around the supper (or breakfast!) table is a simple and impactful way to live liturgically. Everyone has to eat, so adding meaningful and prayerful traditions to a meal is an ideal and easy way to ensure the beauty of the faith is practiced and passed down.

Just as the family celebrates Advent with its glowing wreath or the feast of St. Patrick with corned beef hash and a green tablecloth, living liturgically during Lent should bring spiritual renewal and a deeper understanding of the life of Christ and those who love Him. The great fast of Lent is a time of preparation for Christ’s suffering, death, and glorious resurrection filled with prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. How can you honor this solemn liturgical season and bring a spirit of penance and anticipation to your dinner table? Read along for a few ideas.

Lenten table decorations

• Lenten candle cross: Candlelight instantly elevates a meal, draws people in, and may even help improve mealtime behavior for the youngest attendees. The advent wreath is easily the highlight of the Advent dinner table, so why stop there?

As the Advent wreath visually shows the expectant longing and anticipation of Christ’s Nativity, the Lenten cross gets progressively darker each week until there is just darkness on Good Friday. How does it work? During Lenten suppers, place seven (preferably purple or maroon) candles on your table in the shape of a cross or in a line — this is where you can get creative!

At each supper, light all of the candles and blow one out for each week of Lent that has passed until they are all extinguished on Good Friday and it appears that darkness and death have triumphed. On Easter Sunday all of the candles are lit in a bright and joyful celebration that He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!

• Liturgical table setting: Decorating with a table setting that can remain on your table throughout the liturgical season is a constant reminder that it is not ordinary time. It can be as simple as a purple table runner and burlap, or add other items such as cactus, a small crown of thorns, or miniature Calvary scene.

Lenten supper traditions

• Lenten prayer: After grace (or after dinner) consider adding another moment of prayer to your meal. There are many beautiful Lenten prayers you could incorporate. One suggestion is the prayer of St. Ephrem. Byzantine Rite Catholics incorporate this prayer into their Divine Office and Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts during the Great Fast and it’s a beautiful and penitential prayer to add to your Lenten prayer arsenal.

Prayer of St. Ephrem

O LORD, Master of my life, grant that I may not be infected with the
spirit of slothfulness and inquisitiveness, with the spirit of ambition and vain talking.

Grant instead to me, your servant, the spirit of purity and of
humility, the spirit of patience and neighborly love.

O Lord and King, grant me the grace of being aware of my sins and of not thinking evil of those of my brethren.
For you are blessed, now and ever, and forever.
Amen.

• Wait to eat: Once everyone has sat down and prayed together, add an act of penance to your dinner right then and there. Count to 40 out loud before taking the first bite. This is a simple and very effective reminder that Lent is a time of waiting and preparing. It’s especially penitential for the person who likes their food piping hot!

• Sing Hymns: There are some beautiful Lenten hymns that your family can sing while clearing the table and cleaning the kitchen after dinner. Create or find a playlist on Spotify (The album “Lent at Ephesus” by the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles is a wonderful place to begin) or sing them acapella. Two favorite Lenten hymns in our household are “Lord Who Throughout the Forty Days” and “Again We Keep This Solemn Fast.”

Tried and true Lenten recipes

Meatless Fridays and aiming for simple recipes during the rest of the week is an integral part of Lenten fasting. Here are some recipes that are sure to nourish those around your supper table.

• Soups

Chunky Lentil and Vegetable Soup

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Soup

Cozy Cabbage and Farro Soup

Tomato Soup (so yummy with grilled cheese!)

• Main Dishes

Quick Pasta and Chickpeas

Smoky Sweet Potato and Black Bean Casserole

Thai Noodle Sauce with Peanut Sauce (make extra sauce!)

Tallarines Verde (can add salmon or shrimp for heft)

• Sunday Gospel Desserts – Celebrating Sunday as Resurrection Day is a way to live liturgically and remember that even in the midst of Lent, Christ has already won. One way to honor this “little Easter” is to have a dessert after dinner that pairs well with the Gospel reading for that Sunday. For example, the first Sunday of Lent’s Gospel reading is Matthew’s account of Jesus’ temptation in the desert. Serve angel food cake as a nod to the angels who ministered to Christ in the desert.

Liturgical living is a beautiful way to build family culture and share the beauty of the faith with others. What are some of your favorite traditions around the Lenten supper table?