A Common Lent All Souls' Episcopal Church 2021 - All Souls' Episcopal Church
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A Common Lent
All Souls’ Episcopal Church
2021A Common Lent
Lord, to whom shall we go?
thou hast the words of eternal life.
St. John 6:68.
Preface.
L ENT is the fast of forty days before Easter, beginning with
Ash Wednesday, not counting Sundays. During the Lenten
season the Church prepares to commemorate the passion and
resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Historically, Lent was both a
time for preparing converts to Christianity for Baptism, as
well as a time for restoring penitent sinners to the fellowship
of the Church. Thus, as the Book of Common Prayer puts it,
Lent is a time when the Church especially calls to mind “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.” The Church calls us
to observe a holy Lent by devoting ourselves, in a focused way,
to the disciplines of fasting and self-denial, reading and
meditating on God’s holy Word, prayer, self-examination, and
repentance.
This booklet provides a way for the Parish of All Souls’ to keep
Lent as a community. It marks out a set of communal
practices to undertake as a parish family during this holy
season. It gives us a common focus: how we will pray together,
read together, and fast together. May sharing these disciplines
together enrich our sense of the communion and fellowship
we have in and through Jesus.
The Lenten Collect.
A LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that
thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who
are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts,
that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our
wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be read every day in Lent.
Common Practices.
O UR COMMON PRACTICES this Lent are set out in this
booklet. For each week in Lent, we provide the following
elements:
1. Thematic Reflection.
Our Lenten theme is the prayerful reading of Scripture.
It is one of the disciplines specifically enjoined in the
Ash Wednesday service: “reading and meditating on
God’s holy Word.” Each week we will explore an aspect
of our theme through reflections based on a collect of
Thomas Cranmer:
Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to
be written for our learning: Grant that we may in
such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and
inwardly digest them, that, by patience and
comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace and
ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,
which thou hast given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;
who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Week 1: Hear.
Week 2: Read.
Week 3: Mark.
Week 4: Learn.
Week 5: Inwardly digest.
2. Fast.
A communal fast. Each week we will abstain from
something as a parish family. You may keep each fast
for only one week, or you may choose to add fast to fast
cumulatively.
3. Scripture.
The Sunday lectionary readings (Old Testament,
Psalm, Epistle, Gospel), paired with prayers. Each day,
read and prayerfully meditate on at least one of the
assigned Sunday readings. Reading the same biblical
texts is the core of our common Lenten journey.
Additional Lenten offerings include:
• Lenten Speaker Series (Wednesdays at 7:00 pm).
Gather as a parish family to consider the Scriptural
texts for the week with a dialogue between the clergy
and your fellow parishioners.
• Stations of the Cross (Fridays at Noon and 5:30 pm).
An immersive devotional service in the Church focused
on the Passion of our Lord. Approximately 30 minutes.
• Confession (Saturdays from Noon to 1:00 pm).
The clergy will be available in the Chapel to hear
confessions using the rite for the Reconciliation of a
Penitent. Contact a member of the clergy to learn how
to prepare for confession.
• Lenten Quiet Day (Saturday, February 27, 8:30–3:30).
The Rev. Dr. Stewart Clem will lead our annual Quiet
Day on the theme, “The Crucified Word: Meditations
on the Seven Last Sayings of Jesus.”
• Saint Mark’s Gospel (Thursday, March 25 at 6:30 pm).
Members of the parish will read the entirety of the
Gospel according to Saint Mark in one evening.Ash Wednesday
February 17
Service Schedule.
Holy Communion with the Imposition of Ashes:
7:00 am
10:00 am
Noon
6:00 pm
Ash Wednesday Fast.
In the Episcopal Church, fasting is obligatory on Ash
Wednesday and Good Friday. Fasting means considerably
reducing the amount of food you eat. You can fast by eating
nothing all day or by eating only a small meal and a couple
snacks. Young children, the sick, pregnant women, and the
elderly are not expected to fast.
Fasting is distinct from abstinence, which means giving up a
particular kind of food or drink. When you fast you will be
hungry; when you abstain from meat you can still eat your fill
of vegetables and fish. The Prayer Book calls us to practice
abstinence (traditionally, from meat) on the weekdays of Lent
and on Fridays throughout the year, in commemoration of our
Lord’s crucifixion.
The point of fasting is to be hungry, in order to learn that our
life does not ultimately come from food, but from God, the
Giver of Life. And when we fast, by God’s gift, we begin to
discover a hunger for something more than food. To know that
beyond even our most basic needs, our most fundamental
desires, in the deepest core of our being, we are hungry for
God. “As the deer longs for the water-brooks,” prays the
psalmist, “so longs my soul for you, O God. My soul is athirst
for God, athirst for the living God” (Ps 42:1–2).Fasting teaches us that we need God more than anything, and
cultivates our desire, our hunger, for God above all else.
If you set out to take seriously the Lenten fast, you will
probably fail. But this discovery of failure and weakness is part
of the point. Even a fast kept imperfectly can be spiritually
beneficial. Because part of the point of these disciplines is to
humble you, and reveal the person you really are. And to
encourage you to redouble your struggle against sin. And,
finally, to make you know—in the depth of your being—the
mercy and kindness and love of God, who gives you life, and
who is mighty to save.
Weekdays following Ash Wednesday.
February 18–20
Scripture.
Read at least one of these passages from the Bible every day this week.
Isaiah 58:1-12
Psalm 103
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Matthew 6:16–21
The Lenten Collect.
A LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that
thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who
are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts,
that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our
wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.The First Week in Lent
February 21–27
Thematic Reflection: Hear.
“Blessed Lord,” we pray, “who hast caused all holy Scriptures
to be written for our learning: Grant that we may…hear
them…” We begin by asking the Lord to grant that we might
hear the holy Scriptures. Hearing the Word of God is
fundamental. As Saint Paul puts it, “Faith comes by hearing”
(Romans 10:17). The ear, you might say, is the most important
part of the body; it makes it possible for us to hear what God
has to say to us.
Hearing the Bible read aloud (without commentary) is at the
heart of Anglican spirituality. We trust that hearing the words
of Scripture will tune our hearts to the Lord.
Ultimately, hearing is linked to obedience. Indeed, the word
“obedience” derives from the Latin word for hearing. Jesus
says, “whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth
them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house
upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for
it was founded upon a rock” (Matthew 7:24–25).
Read aloud the lectionary texts each week during Lent. Read
them aloud yourself if you live alone; if you live with others,
take turns reading the lessons.
Fast: Social Media & News Media.
Hearing the Word of God is difficult when other voices fill our
ears. Especially the many yammering voices on social media
and television news. Shut out their noise this week, that you
might keep silence before the Lord.Scripture.
Read at least one of these passages from the Bible every day this week.
Genesis 9:8-17
Psalm 25
1 Peter 3:18-22
Mark 1:9-13
Weekly Collect.
A LMIGHTY God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit
to be tempted of Satan: Make speed to help thy servants
who are assaulted by manifold temptations; and, as thou
knowest their several infirmities, let each one find thee mighty
to save; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and
reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for
ever. Amen.
The Lenten Collect.
A LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that
thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who
are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts,
that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our
wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.The Second Week in Lent
February 28—March 6
Thematic Reflection: Read.
This week we ask our blessed Lord to grant that we might
rightly read the holy Scriptures. How are we to read the Bible?
Many approaches are possible (for example, reading the Bible
as history, or as literature, or as a guide to moral conduct, or
as a political weapon, etc.); not all are spiritually fruitful. For
Christians, the primary way to read Scripture is through the
humility of prayer.
Reading the Bible prayerfully entails a posture of openness to
what God may be speaking to you. It is reading the Bible not
for information, but formation. Reading not for mastery, but
to be mastered. Reading not to consume content, but to
encounter Christ and receive his correction and comfort.
The theologian Karl Barth said that the best reading of
Scripture comes from approaching the text “like an astonished
child in a wonderful garden.”
Fast: Sweets.
Our communal discipline this week is to forgo eating sweets.
This will be more difficult for some of us, than for others.
Whether or not you have a sweet tooth, though, this week is
an opportunity to discover the sweetness found in reading the
holy Scriptures:
More to be desired are they than gold,
more than much fine gold,
sweeter far than honey,
than honey in the comb. (Psalm 19:10)Scripture.
Read at least one of these passages from the Bible every day this week.
Genesis 22:1–14
Psalm 16:5–11
Romans 8:31–39
Mark 8:31–38
Weekly Collect.
OtoGOD, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious
all who have gone astray from thy ways, and bring them
again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and
hold fast the unchangeable truth of thy Word, Jesus Christ thy
Son; who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Lenten Collect.
A LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that
thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who
are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts,
that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our
wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.The Third Week in Lent
March 7—13
Thematic Reflection: Mark.
We have asked the Lord for the grace to hear and to read holy
Scripture, and now we are asked to mark them. What does
this mean?
To mark the Scriptures is to pay careful attention to them. As
when we say, “Mark my words!” We mark God’s Word when
we notice especially the “pinch points”; that is, passages of
Scripture we may find uncomfortable or disconcerting. We do
well to pay attention especially at these points because our
discomfort may signal that the Word of God is challenging us
or calling us into question, calling us to repentance, or out into
the deep.
Or, we may come across a passage we do not understand when
we first read it, and we mark it, perhaps with a bookmark, so
that we can return to it again in order to make some sense of
it.
Fast: Movies & TV Shows.
Our fast this week is from watching movies or shows, either
on television or streaming services (e.g., Netflix, Hulu,
Disney+, etc.). If you find yourself tempted to turn on the
screen, ask yourself what is behind that desire. Mark this well:
Why do you want this? When you choose to be entertained,
what are you not attending to?Scripture.
Read at least one of these passages from the Bible every day this week.
Exodus 20:1–17
Psalm 19:7–14
Romans 7:13–25
John 2:13-22
Weekly Collect.
ALMIGHTY God, who seest that we have no power of
ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our
bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended
from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from
all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through
Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and
the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Lenten Collect.
A LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that
thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who
are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts,
that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our
wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.The Fourth Week in Lent
March 14–20
Thematic Reflection: Learn.
When you learn something, it becomes part of you. When you
memorize something, it becomes engrained in your memory,
becomes a part of the storehouse of your soul.
Memorize passages of Scripture. Committing the words of
Scripture to memory is a way of obeying God’s command to
“lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul”
(Deuteronomy 11:18–21). As we memorize the Bible, it shapes
our imaginations, our desires, and our prayers—the Word of
God furnishes our minds.
Fast: Alcohol or Caffeine.
Which of these two do you use most frequently: alcohol or
caffeine? Give up that one this week.Scripture.
Read at least one of these passages from the Bible every day this week.
2 Chronicles 36:14–23
Psalm 122
Ephesians 2:4–10
John 6:4–15
Weekly Collect.
GRACIOUS Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came
down from heaven to be the true bread which giveth life to
the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us,
and we in him; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Lenten Collect.
A LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that
thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who
are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts,
that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our
wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.The Fifth Week in Lent
March 21–27
Thematic Reflection: Inwardly digest.
Jesus says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).
The Word of God nourishes us, and God’s written Word and
requires digestion. We can’t bolt it down and expect it to
nourish us; we need to let the Word work on us. We must
“inwardly digest” the words of the holy Scriptures—to
ruminate on them, to chew them over and extract their
nourishment and fully savor their meaning.
Bernard of Clairvaux said of the words of the Bible: “Enjoying
their sweetness, I chew them over and over, my internal
organs are replenished, my insides fattened up, and all my
bones break out in praise.” Some parts of the Bible need more
chewing than others to draw out their sweetness. Some parts
are like milk and honey: they taste sweet right away and go
down easily. For example, “the Lord is my shepherd” and
“God is love.” Other parts, though, are more like steak; you’ve
really got to chew on it for a while and it requires some extra
digestion.
When we “inwardly digest” the words of the Bible, we will, like
the prophet Ezekiel, find them sweet as honey in our mouths
(Ezekiel 3:3). We will discover the sweetness of Christ, “for
both in the Old and New Testament everlasting life is offered
to Mankind by Christ, who is the only Mediator between God
and Man, being both God and Man.”
Fast: Meat.
Abstain from meat this week. If you already eat a vegetarian
diet, consider eating a vegan diet, that is, abstain from all
animal products (dairy, eggs, etc.).Scripture.
Read at least one of these passages from the Bible every day this week.
Jeremiah 31:31–34
Psalm 51
Hebrews 5:1–10
John 12:20–33
Weekly Collect.
Oand
ALMIGHTY God, who alone canst order the unruly wills
affections of sinful men: Grant unto thy people that
they may love the thing which thou commandest, and desire
that which thou dost promise; that so, among the sundry and
manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be
fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Lenten Collect.
A LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that
thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who
are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts,
that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our
wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.Holy Week
March 28—April 3
Palm Sunday.
Holy Communion with the Liturgy of the Palms,
And the Reading of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Saturday 5:30 pm/ Sunday 8am, 10am, 5pm.
Monday in Holy Week.
Holy Communion.
5:30 pm (Chapel of St. Mary).
Tuesday in Holy Week.
Holy Communion.
5:30 pm (Chapel of St. Mary).
Wednesday in Holy Week.
Holy Communion.
5:30 pm (Chapel of St. Mary).
Maundy Thursday.
Holy Communion with the Stripping of the Altar.
7:00 pm (Church).
The Watch
8:00 pm (Chapel of St. Mary).Good Friday.
The Solemn Liturgy of Good Friday.
Holy Communion.
Noon (Church).
A Meditation on the Passion.
7:00 pm (Church).
Easter Eve.
The Great Vigil of Easter with Holy Baptism,
And the First Eucharist of Easter.
5:30 pm (Church).
The Sunday of the Resurrection:
Easter Day.
Easter Services.
Holy Communion.
7:30am, 9:15am, 11am.
The Pascha Nostrum.
A LLELUIA.
Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us : therefore let us
keep the feast,
Not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and
wickedness : but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and
truth. Alleluia.
1 Corinthians 5:7–8
C HRIST being raised from the dead dieth no more : death
hath no more dominion over him.
For in that he died, he died unto sin once : but in that he
liveth, he liveth unto God.
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto
sin : but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Alleluia.
Romans 6:9–11
C HRIST is risen from the dead : and become the firstfruits
of them that slept.
For since by man came death : by man came also the
resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die : even so in Christ shall all be made
alive. Alleluia.
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