--- title: Hardness and Joy in Lent description: Three weeks into Lent, Margaret Rose Realy, Obl OSB shares her own impressions of the hardness and joy of the season. --- [![catholic-mom-logo-v2](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/images/catholic-mom-logo-v2.svg "catholic-mom-logo-v2")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) [![search-icon](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/search-icon.svg)](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2017/03/16/hardness-joy-lent#) # Hardness and Joy in Lent Mar 16, 2017 8:30:37 AM  |  by [Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/margaret-rose-realy-obl-osb) ![](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/CM-cropped-laetare-rocks-633x1024.jpg?width=800&height=350&name=CM-cropped-laetare-rocks-633x1024.jpg) We’re approaching Laetare Sunday, the fourth week of Lent, and still I’ve not been able to adhere to its disciplines: fasting, almsgiving, and prayer. My usual prayer and abstinence routines are securely in place. It is the extras, so important to this spiritual season of faith, that are lacking. The other morning after Lauds and a rosary, rising from my chair, I stood at the home altar. Drawing the sanctuary light that hung from the wall towards me, I blew out the candle. The holy images that would draw me into prayer hung above and were hidden behind purple cloths. Their hidden faces echoed the distance I felt from the observance Lent. I touched the arrangement of objects placed on the altar. On a wood box covered by linens was an eight-inch rock with angular surfaces of pink and black, on which set three square-cut iron spikes. The book *Way of the Cross,* by Pope Benedict, was propped open to the image of the eighth station—Jesus meets the women. Here the suffering Christ was concerned with the weakness of those women. I shuddered remembering his words, “. . . weep for yourselves and your children . . .” It is chilling to know that his suffering brought to us in ours would be our only comfort. I wondered if those women, like me, focus on the gentleness of God and minimized the mystery of evil and pain in our world. [tweet "It was the hardness of life that had brought me to joy. By @realym #Lent"] On the altar is a path of fourteen stones, representative of each step of the Passion. I picked one up, smooth and cold in my palm, and rubbed my thumb over its surface. These rocks suggest the austere realities of the life of Christ, and moments of our own: The hardness some paths take, the coldness of the journey, that every path has a beginning and an end. Flat and dark, each stone has its own weight. As do each of our challenges, as do the Stations of the Cross. All are hard and, depending on our frame of mind, can halt our progression under the burden. I turn and look out the window. Laetare Sunday is near. It marks a time to rejoice in the middle of Lent, a time to see the joy to come as the Pascal Mystery lives out. The stone in my hand has warmed. It, along with the thirteen others, holds many silent prayers. The little path of stones is like a Lenten rosary. Each stone passes through the hand, and a memory through the heart. The images may be brutal and sad, but each is softened with gratitude. Had Christ not suffered, I would have no way to God. Had my life not been demanding, my soul would not have sought Our Lord. It was the hardness of life that had brought me to joy. I look to the rock in my hand and rejoice.   *Copyright 2014, 2017 Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB.* ### Share this article [![Share on Facebook](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/facebook-24x24.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2017%2F03%2F16%2Fhardness-joy-lent%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on Twitter](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/twitter-24x24.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2017%2F03%2F16%2Fhardness-joy-lent%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2017%2F03%2F16%2Fhardness-joy-lent%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=Hardness%20and%20Joy%20in%20Lent) [![Share on Email](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/email-24x24.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2017%2F03%2F16%2Fhardness-joy-lent%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.catholicmom.com%2Farticles%2F2017%2F03%2F16%2Fhardness-joy-lent%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) ** #### About the Author ![Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/Margaret%20Rose%20Realy%202022.jpg) ### [Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/margaret-rose-realy-obl-osb) Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB lives an eremitic life and authored [A Garden Catechism](https://www.amazon.com/Garden-Catechism-Plants-Christian-Tradition/dp/1681925567), [A Catholic Gardener’s Spiritual Almanac](http://www.amazon.com/Catholic-Gardeners-Spiritual-Almanac-Cultivating/dp/1594714843/linkCode=as2%26tag=patheoscom04-20),  [A Garden of Visible Prayer: Creating a Personal Sacred Space One Step at a Time](http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Visible-Prayer-Creating-Personal/dp/1939221234/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1425010682&sr=1-1&keywords=9781939221230), and  [Cultivating God’s Garden through Lent](http://www.amazon.com/Cultivating-Gods-Garden-through-Lent/dp/1939221099/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359826349&sr=8-1&keywords=cultivating+gods+garden+through+lent). An award-winning author, Margaret has a master’s degree in communications, is a Certified Greenhouse Grower, Master Gardener, liturgical garden consultant, and workshop/retreat leader. ## Related Blog Articles [ Bulbs Part 3: Forcing Bulbs for Preseason Color: Practical Gardening Series Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2014/10/25/practical-gardening-bulbs-part-3-forcing-bulbs-for-preseason-color) [ This is for the Birds! Practical Gardening Series Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2014/11/01/practical-gardening-this-is-for-the-birds) [ This Is for the Birds Read ](https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2013/12/07/this-is-for-the-birds) ## Comments ## Donate now [![Support Catholic Mom](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/275132/10016573-1c5c-4aa5-baba-c2ac91fe7545) [![CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)](https://www.catholicmom.com/hs-fs/hubfs/CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png?width=1806&height=731&name=CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c%20(002).png "CatholicMom_hcfm_logo1_pos_871c_2728c (002)")](https://www.catholicmom.com/) ##### Subscribe to Catholic Momcast on iTunes or Spotify [![itunes-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/itunes-logo-black.svg)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catholic-momcast/id1362352357)[![spotify-logo-black](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/logos/spotify-logo-black.svg)](https://open.spotify.com/show/15CoipHL7z61IDcYErV0b8?si=hqaQJSxDQgq7S1hxCwsoxQ) ##### CatholicMom on Social Networks [![facebook](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-facebook.svg)](http://www.facebook.com/CatholicMomCommunity) [![twitter](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-twitter.svg)](http://twitter.com/CatholicMomCom) [![instagram](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-instagram.svg)](http://instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) [![youtube](https://www.catholicmom.com/hubfs/_catholicmom/icons/social-icon-youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAuUqHCVPDzyMgSMaMZxxug?view_as=subscriber) ##### About Catholic Mom [Who We Are](https://www.catholicmom.com/about-us) [Contact Us](https://www.catholicmom.com/contact) [Support CatholicMom.com](https://www.catholicmom.com/support-us)   ##### Associated Links [Holy Cross Family Ministries](https://www.hcfm.org/) [Family Rosary](https://www.familyrosary.org/) [Family Theater Productions](https://www.familytheater.org/) [Congregation of the Holy Cross](https://www.holycrossusa.org/) [Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C.](https://www.fatherpeyton.org/) [The Peyton Institute for Domestic Church Life](https://www.peytonfamilyinstitute.org/) ### **Stay connected!** Don’t miss a thing! 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