St. Augustine's Anglican Church

Genesis 12:1-4a

Psalm 121

Romans 4:1-5,13-17

John 3:1-17

Lent, in the Christian church, is a period of penitential preparation for Easter. In Western churches it begins on Ash Wednesday, six and a half weeks before Easter, and provides a 40-day period for fasting and abstinence (Sundays are excluded), in imitation of Jesus Christ’s fasting in the wilderness before he began his public ministry.

A period of preparation and fasting likely has been observed before the Easter festival since apostolic times, though the practice was not formalized until the First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE. It was a time of preparation of candidates for baptism and a time of penance for grievous sinners who were excluded from Communion and were preparing for their restoration. As a sign of their penitence, they wore sackcloth and were sprinkled with ashes. This form of public penance began to die out in the 9th century, and it became customary for all the faithful to be reminded of the need for penitence by receiving an imposition of ashes on their foreheads on the first day of Lent—hence the name Ash Wednesday.

In the early centuries, fasting rules were strict, as they still are in Eastern churches. One meal a day was allowed in the evening, and meat, fish, eggs, and butter were forbidden. The Eastern church also restricts the use of wine, oil, and dairy products. In the West these fasting rules have gradually been relaxed. The strict law of fasting among Roman Catholics was dispences with during Wp+ord War II, and only Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are now kept as Lenten fast days. However, the emphasis on penitential practice and almsgiving remains, and many Catholics also observe a meatless fast on Fridays during Lent. In addition, many Christians often choose to give up specific pleasures, such as sweets, alcohol, or social media, during Lent as a way to foster simplicity and self control; many use their cravings or desires for these items as a reminder to pray and to refocus on spiritual matters.

In the Anglican churches The Book of Common Prayer prescribes that Lent be observed with fasting.

The following post caught Anne Wightman's eye as we are into our Lenten Prayer focus. It comes from Forward Movement, an Episcopal resource centre. You may be familiar with their daily meditation series "Forward Day by Day." We also often make use of their Lent and Advent books.

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From: Forward Today: Opening up our prayers
February 15, 2023
Dear friends in Christ,
Some time ago, I was convicted by the teaching of Jesus we read in Matthew
5:43-45:
"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your
enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute
you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his
sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the
unrighteous."
I’ve never really been persecuted in a serious way, and I don’t think of myself
as having enemies. But Jesus’ teaching made me reflect on who I was praying
for. So I decided to open up my prayer list.
Every day, I say morning and evening prayer. Near the end of the daily office,
there is a place to add our own intercessions to the prayers offered in the
liturgy. I now pray and give thanks in four categories:
Friends
Enemies
Strangers
Thanksgiving
Most of the time, I had found myself praying for friends, for people I know or
particularly care about. There’s nothing wrong with that! But I decided to add
"enemies" to my prayer list. As I said, I don’t really have declared enemies,
but I pray for people I don’t like, people I’m afraid of, and people who might
wish me harm. My list includes regular people, politicians, and others.
A few weeks ago, I added "strangers" to my list. These are people I might
have met on the street or in a shop, people whose names and stories I don’t
really know, but who might need prayers. On cold nights, I pray for people
who must sleep outside.
Lastly, over the last few months, I also realized I didn’t have a formal practice
of offering thanks to God for the many blessings of this life. So I added this to
my prayers. It’s already strengthened my life to remember twice each day all
the ways that God has blessed me or blessed others in my sight.
No doubt my prayer list will continue to evolve over time. But I wanted to
pass my current practice along, in case it’s helpful in your life of prayer. If you
don’t have a daily prayer practice, it’s never too late to start. You can just
think of one or more of the categories on my list and pray in the shower, on a
walk, on your commute to work, or in a quiet moment of your day.
Let us pray.
Yours faithfully. Scott Gunn