Feb. 23 Monday of the First Week of Lent; Opt Mem of St. Polycarp, Opt. Mem.

The great themes--the annual catechumenate by which all the people of the Church are renewed in the baptismal promises they repeat at the Easter Vigil; the adventure of God in salvation history and in the coming of the Kingdom in the person of Jesus; and the invitation to deeper friendship with Christ through a more intimate embrace of His Passion and Death--shape the liturgical rhythm of Lent.