LENT

a season of penitence and fasting” in preparation for the Paschal feast

Lent is the forty days before Easter (excluding Sundays), beginning on Ash Wednesday. Lent is a season of preparation which brings us (symbolically) through the wilderness to the promised land of redemption. The wilderness of Lent is meant to cleanse us from that which inhibits our relationship with God. By engaging in the ancient Lenten disciplines (practices) of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we prepare ourselves to live more fully as followers of Jesus. Like Noah's forty days on the ark and like Israel's forty years in the wilderness of Sinai, the forty days of Lent prepare us to receive the promise of the Paschal Mystery: redemption and new life. A version of Lent has been practiced since the 2nd century CE as a time when those who were to be welcomed into the Church through baptism were prepared and performed their penance.

Lent invites us to practice three ancient disciplines as a means of preparation and growth:

Prayer - Through prayer we come to know our true selves and to recognize that which is holding us back from being exactly what we were created to be: ie. beloved children in the embrace of a loving God.
Fasting - Through fasting we rid ourselves of all that does not enable charity and love to prevail - character, habit, and behavior that keep us from healthy and holy relationships with God and with one another.
Almsgiving - Through almsgiving we make ourselves more aware of the needs of others, especially the poor and marginalized.

The liturgical color of Lent is purple, used to reflect sorrow and penitence as well as the royalty of King David.

A Note from the Rector

OUR LENTEN CALENDAR

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper

March 4 * 5-7 pm

Ash Wednesday Services

March 5 * 12 noon & 7 pm

Life Transformed: The Way of Love in Lent

Wednesday, beginning March 12

6-7:30 pm