Begining of Lent
[From an elist associated with a sister Church to my own. -Thomas]
Dear Children of Light;
The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our
Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the
Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This
season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were
prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who,
because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the
faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored
to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was
put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the
Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians
continually have to renew their repentance and faith.
I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Holy Gnosis, to the
observance of a holy Lent, by self examination and by prayer,
fasting, and self denial; by reading and meditating on God’s holy
Word.
Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth: Grant
that the ashes imposed today may be to us a sign of our mortality and
penitence, that we may remember that it is only by your gracious gift
of the Holy Sacred Flame that we are able to achieve the Gnosis;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
Remember that our forms are dust, and to dust they shall return.
+J
