Are there really spiritual advantages to be gained by fasting and almsgiving? Is penance and "chastising the flesh" truly necessary for growth in holiness or merely the last remaining symbols of an "outdated spirituality"? In a world where so many of us are willing to make sacrifices for the "corruptible crown" of physical beauty and material success is there still a place for spiritual exercise? Fight of Your Life In the inspiring new three CD (or cassette) series Unless You Do Penance: Spiritual Secrets for Living Lent, Fr. Shannon Collins, C.P.M. shares with you plentiful and practical steps to a more meaningful Lent. Drawing upon the rich tradition of Catholic liturgy, the lives of the saints and the Holy Scriptures, Fr. Collins reveals how you can truly make the most of this consecrated season. As you explore the Biblical account of Our Lord's Temptation in the desert and the penitential practices of great saints like Francis of Assisi, you'll discover how Lent is truly a spiritual "sparring round" for the "fight of our lives." And why the goal of Lent is to help us ultimately gain victory in the final battle for eternity. The Soul of Prayer In this original series, you'll encounter the true meaning behind the traditional threefold activity of Lent: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. As you listen, you'll learn how penance was established in the Garden of Eden, why charity or almsgiving "covers a multitude of sins," how fasting is "the soul of prayer" and why Our Lord Himself commanded it. In addition, along with encouraging well known Lenten practices such as meditation on the Passion narratives in the Gospels, praying the Stations of the Cross and the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, Father reveals the nearly forgotten spiritual secret of finding your own "Lenten Island". Now you'll be able to follow in the footsteps of the great saints and discern how to go to where God can be found most fully and most easily in your own life. Participate in His Passion Prayer In this modern world such things as penance, mortifications and bodily denial are sometimes seen as an affront to human dignity. Fr. Collins reveals to us that it is Our Lord's Sacrifice on the Cross that truly provides dignity to man, and it is our penance and prayer that enables us to participate in His Passion. OrderUnless You Do Penance: Spiritual Secrets for Living Lent today and prepare for your most spiritually fruitful Lenten Season ever. DISCOVER Why "Where there is no penance, there is no horror for sin" How Christ's Passion provides dignity for man Why modernists fear penance and mortification How to find your own "Lenten Island" Why fasting, prayer and alms giving cannot be separated What got "lost in the translation" of the Latin Lenten Liturgy into English Why Our Lord Himself commands fasting Why Scripture tells us, "Unless you do penance, you shall perish" Why Our Lord always quotes the authority of Scripture and the Law in order to give more honor to his human nature How the Blessed Virgin Mary participated in the Redemption And much more…