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If it's been a while since your last Exodus spiritual exercise, welcome back!

St. Michael’s Lent has become a cherished Exodus 90 tradition as a time of renewal half way around the year from Lent. Men have been turning to St. Michael in recent years as a model of faithfulness against the forces of evil and of unwielding fidelity to God. This season of prayer and sacrifice was inaugurated by St. Francis of Assisi when he ascended Mount LaVerna and received the stigmata. He is truly an image of a man set free by Christ, who is ready to follow wherever he leads.

This year, we will be led by Fr. Columba Jordan, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal from Ireland. He will be guiding us through the Book of Daniel with the theme “Stand Firm.” Daniel was sent into exile in Babylon, remaining faithful despite intense pressure. Even as he was thrown into the lion’s den, and his friends entered the burning furnace, they remain unscathed because they put God first and refused to make any compromise in this fidelity to him. We, too, live in exile in this world and face daily challenges that test our fidelity. Invoking St. Michael, we will rise up to meet these attacks, standing firm in faith.

St. Michael’s Lent offers us a time of renewal and rest in the Lord. We will pray in silence each day, pull back from the news and media, make sure we receive enough sleep, and, once a week, will rise in the night for a one hour vigil to put the praise of God before all else, including our sleep. This time of prayer in the dark stillness of the night, entering the praise of the angels, offers us a powerful opportunity to grow in intimacy with God, imitating both St. Michael and St. Francis in their watchfulness.

Yes. All our programs are spiritual exercises for men based on prayer, asceticism, and fraternity and rooted in the traditions of the early Church. All men are welcome. More and more Protestant, Evangelical, and other non-Catholic, Christian participants continue to find the spiritual exercise to be very fruitful for their freedom and relationship with Christ every year.

That being said, we are unashamedly Catholic, and there will be Catholic themes and theology in these reflections.

Exodus 90 is not an addiction or recovery program. It is a lifestyle that orients us toward the uncommon freedom that the Lord gives us when we become who we truly are. It's an opportunity to conform one's whole life to that of Christ and become the renewal in the Church. This will inevitably bring forth abundant graces and greater freedom.

The Lord can do anything: he has used Exodus 90 to bring forth the grace of complete freedom to men who have been struggling with addictions for decades. Exodus 90 helps dispose us to accept the grace and freedom God wants to give us.

We highly recommend that those struggling with an addiction get the help they need from a licensed therapist. Check out CatholicTherapists.com.