Lenten devotional booklet
In the ancient Church Easter was the only day of the year when baptisms were celebrated. The 40 days leading to Easter were a time of final preparation for converts (“catechumens”) to enter into the life of Christ’s Body with Holy Baptism during the context of the Easter liturgy.
Lent was also an extended period of penance for those who had been excommunicated because of grievous sins. Those once banned for a time from the sacramental life of the Church were reconciled and welcomed back into the fold.
Very early on the Church recognized that such a period of preparation for the celebration of Easter was of value for all Christians. The disciplines of self-denial and privation associated with Lent help sanctify the heart for God’s purposes. The ancient Church balanced self-denial with almsgiving and other acts of charity toward the poor.
This year we observe the 40 days of Lent with an acute awareness of the global pandemic that continues to rage. We are put in mind of the fragility of life and our common call to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We make a humble and realistic assessment of where we stand. We grieve and mourn the dead, intercede for those who are sick and those who tend to their needs, and bid God’s grace to bring the pandemic to an end.
Although we are unable to gather in person this year, we still embark together with Christians everywhere on our Lenten journey. We gather with our siblings in Christ, near and far, in spirit, and together we offer ourselves, souls and bodies, to God, "by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word" (The Book of Common Prayer, p. 265).
With a simple desire to strengthen and unite the prayers of Saint Philip’s many parishioners and friends across distances in this season of penitence and fasting, we mailed a booklet of Morning and Evening Devotions for the 40 Days of Lent intended for individuals and families. (It should arrive in your mailbox no later than next week.)
The booklet is divided into two sections. The first provides Morning and Evening Devotions for the first three weeks of Lent (February 17-March 13). The second section offers Morning and Evening Devotions for the final weeks of Lent (March 14-27). The orders of services are modeled on the Daily Office and the Daily Devotions for Individuals and Families in The Book of Common Prayer (1979), with additional prayers and devotions drawn from Enriching Our Worship, Volume 1 (1997). As you pray with the devotions, be sure to keep your Prayer Book and Bible close!
Please continue to join us Monday through Saturday for Morning Prayer (8:30 a.m.) and Holy Eucharist (12:15 p.m.), live-streamed on Saint Philip's Facebook page.
May God bless you and yours and keep you safe in the weeks ahead as we journey as one people, knit together in Christ, toward the celebration of our Lord’s death and resurrection on Easter Day!
For more information, please contact Fr. Peter Helman, Parochial Vicar (peter.helman@stphilipstucson.org). If you do not receive a copy of the devotional in the mail, please let us know, and we will do our best to mail you a copy directly.