blog.sinden.org

Lent draws nigh. Lent, Lent, glorious Lent! We have been in Epiphany for a very long time.

If these first few sentences make no sense to you, I'll explain.

In the Christian Church, our primary feast day is Easter which celebrates bunny-rabbits the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The preparatory period of 40 days prior to this great Holy Day is known as Lent.

If you do the math, you find that 40 days (and 40 nights) is a bit more than 5 weeks. Five weeks and a Wednesday, to be exact. And that Wednesday, the start of Lent, is known as Ash Wednesday.

And before Ash Wednesday? Well, the Church doesn't really have a very good name for this, but its Sundays are labeled as being "after Epiphany" (Jan 6).

And here we are, quickly approaching Ash Wednesday, March 9, 2011.

But do you notice how late it comes this year?

In fact, the last time Ash Wednesday was this late it was on March 10 in the year 1943.

In the news: Even our local paper has picked up this story

It has been a long Epiphany season. And I for one am ready, and excited for Lent. One reason is that I finally get to change the color of this website from green to purple (this blog changes colors with the liturgical year).

This year, I have the good fortune to serve in a church with a particularly active Lenten season. So, another thing I have to look forward to are ecumenical preaching services with good organ music (PDF) and lots of hymn singing. And Cheese Soufflé and desserts à la mode . . .

but that's another story . . .

Labels: Lent, St Paul's (Richmond)