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Holy Mother Church, in Her maternal care for Her children, not only gives us time to prepare for Her feasts by periods of penance, but applies gentle spurs to us to prepare even for our preparations. Never is there liturgical whiplash: the liturgical year slows down before it turns. On Easter Sunday, the peal of organs and the resounding cry of the Gloria will return after a long absence. To ready ourselves for the joy of the Man-God's conquest of death in His Resurrection, we who are bound to do so have the long penance of Lent imposed on us. And while Lent prepares us for Easter, the Church provides us even with a preparation for this extended period of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. The preparation for Lent? This is Septuagesimatide, which runs from First Vespers of Septuagesima Sunday(nine weeks before Easter) through Compline of Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. We explore this preparation-for-the-preparation in this month's episode of "The Liturgical Year." Also