Lenten Notes

We begin our Sunday Lenten observance with the Great Litany. First published in 1544, what we now call the Great Litany (so named in our own 1979 Book of Common Prayer) was the first rite in the English language prepared by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, author of the first two editions of The Book of Common Prayer. It is particularly suitable for Lent due to its penitential tone, and includes an invocation to the Trinity, prayers for deliverance from all manner of harm and danger, and pleas for the power of Christ’s incarnation, life, death and resurrection to protect us from all that is evil. It has been said of the Litany that “It covers everything!”

On the Sundays in Lent, you will notice a difference in how we come together as God’s people to worship God. Much of the festive nature of the liturgy is missing. Our music may have a quieter tone. We will be using Rite 1 for this season. We do not adorn our altar area with flowers, and our crosses are covered. A dark purple is used as the color of the season. The word Alleluia, which is sung throughout most of our church year and offered in the dismissal during the season of Easter, is absent- we “retired” it last Sunday and will bring it back joyfully for the first Eucharist of Easter!

These changes are not because Lent is a dull or dreary season, but because it is a time for prayer and contemplation, of journeying within ourselves to find that place of renewal and hope, placed there by the Spirit of God in our baptism. This is a time of limiting our distractions, so that we can listen to that small, still voice of God and respond with a renewed heart.

We gather Sunday by Sunday for our service of worship where our story as the people of God reminds us that God has met and will always meet our needs and that God alone is the source of wholeness and goodness in our lives. We join Christ in his struggle against evil and death, so that we may also join him in the victory that destroys all death.

We invite you to check out your Lenten/Holy Week mailing sent out last week, our weekly bulletins, and our website (stmatthewepsicopal.org) for more information on opportunities for worship, prayer, study, and service to others. Together, we will keep a holy Lent and prepare our souls for the glory and joy that is ours as an Easter people when we will say together “The Lord is Risen indeed! Alleluia!”

Faithfully, Deacon Dina