Dear friends,
By the time you read this, we will have entered the holy, challenging,
introspection-inviting season of Lent. I
pray that it will be a life-giving season for you and for all of us, a time for
looking bravely at the messiness of our lives and, simultaneously, at the
unending love and grace of God.
At
our Ash Wednesday services, you were invited to the observance of a holy
Lent. I hope you take the Church up on
that invitation. As always, our worship
during Lent is shaped by the solemnity of the season, crafted to help us
undertake the penitential work to which we are called. We omit the use of the word alleluia from all
services except funerals; we remove flowers from the altar; we drape the holy
table in somber purple. We even change
the shape of our liturgies themselves, placing words of confession at the very
start of our worship.
And
on February 18, the first Sunday of Lent, we will pray The Great Litany during
the opening procession at both services.
The Great Litany is an ancient form of intercessory prayer, first used
in the 5th century. Because
of its penitential nature, it is especially appropriate in Lent. The Litany begins by called upon the Triune
God to have mercy on us; continues with petitions for protection from evil and
disaster; invokes Christ’s saving work; and includes many general
intercessions, including the plea for God to forgive our enemies, persecutors,
and slanders. You can find The Great
Litany on pages 148 to 153 of The Book of
Common Prayer. I encourage you to
spend some time with it prior to Sunday.
The
Great Litany is not a prayer for the faint of heart, but it is a fabulous
prayer for those who truly want to turn their hearts again to God. May that be our aim in this holy season.
Blessings,
Anne+
No comments:
Post a Comment