The Lenten cycle, inaugurated by Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of a very special liturgical period during which the Church encourages her children to practice the virtue of penance.
The number of our days of Lent is a holy mystery. Let us now learn from the liturgy, in what light the Church views her children during these forty days. The Church considers her children an immense army, fighting day and night against spiritual enemies. We remember how, on Ash Wednesday, she calls Lent a Christian warfare. In order that we may have that newness of life that will make us worthy to sing once more our Alleluia, we must conquer our three enemies: the devil, the flesh, and the world.
Archbishop Lefebvre, in the Statutes of the Society of Saint Pius X, wrote:
The Society’s members will therefore have a true and continual devotion towards their Holy Mass, towards the liturgy which enshrines it, and towards everything which contributes to make the liturgy more expressive of the mystery accomplished in it… A profound theological knowledge of the sacrifice of the Mass will convince them always more firmly that the whole revelation, the mystery of faith, the completion of the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption, and the whole efficacy of the apostolate are accomplished in this sublime reality.
The main goal of the Society of Saint Pius X is to preserve the Catholic Faith in its fullness and purity, to teach its truths, and to diffuse its virtues, especially through the Roman Catholic priesthood. Authentic spiritual life, the sacraments, and the traditional liturgy are its primary means of bringing this life of grace to souls.