Wednesday, February 22, 2012

It's Lent

This morning John, Claire and I stumbled out the door and arrived at church for the 6:30 Ash Wednesday service.  I love the prayers of repentance, the ashes on my forehead.  I loved having the eucharist on a Wednesday morning. 


Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth:  Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, that we may remember that it is only by your gracious gift that we are given everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior.  Amen.

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall remain.




My Lenten reading:




Simplifying The Soul, a lovely blend of practical ideas and meditations, found thanks to my dear friend Laura.
The Hardest Thing To Do, the next in the Hawk and the Dove series by Penelope Wilcock.  I was THRILLED to learn of this from Semicolon, but what I did not expect was that each chapter is a new day of Lent.  Perfectly timed.
The First Fruits of Prayer, by Frederica Mathewes-Green. From amazon.com: 

First Fruits of Prayer will bring readers of all denominational backgrounds into the prayer experience of first millennium Christianity through immersion in this fascinating text, a poetic hymn written in the eighth century. This extraordinarily beautiful work, still chanted by Eastern Christians every Lent, weaves together Old and New Testament scriptures with prayers of hope and repentance. It offers ancient ways of seeing Christ that will nevertheless feel new to most readers today.

4 comments:

elizabeth said...

blessed lent.

I love the book on St. Andrew's Canon...

Alison said...

I so appreciate how intentional you are to read and learn and go deep with every season. I'm eager to read about what you learn this season of Lent.

beth said...

So very glad you posted your Lenten reading. I didn't know there was a fourth of the Hawk and Dove books. I immediately bought it for the kindle so I can read along through Lent with these beloved characters. Thank you.

Pilgrim said...

Frederica's writing never gets old. She's thoughtful and has courage. I enjoy her podcasts from Ancient Faith Radio.

Four Years Later

COVID:2 Collage  Four years ago today we all came home for the lock down. Middle school classes conducted by zoom on the deck, college cours...