When Lent rolls around, everyone notices. The altar becomes bare, our priests become purple, we become penitent, and our liturgy becomes focused on sin, death, and spiritual renewal. At St. Thomas, we appreciate the penitence but like to lean heavily into the spiritual renewal piece. Lent leads us to the cross and the empty tomb, and along the way, we grow closer to God. 

Liturgically, we are doing something new at St. Thomas. Like last year, our service in Lent will open with a Penitential Order found on page 351 of your Book of Common Prayer, and we will use Prayer C as the Eucharistic Prayer. This year, however, we are substituting out the Prayers of the People in favor of a (abridged) piece of our liturgy called “The Great Litany,” which dates back to fifth century Rome. The Great Litany has a penitential tone, which makes it ideal for the season of Lent. Because The Great Litany in the Book of Common Prayer is written in Elizabethan English, we opted to go with a modern language version from Enriching our Worship. We hope that this liturgical change will be a beautiful reminder of the spiritual renewal of Lent and will foster everyone’s relationship with God.

Peace, 
Will