Ash and You Shall Receive

I love Lent...and Advent...the church is all done up in purple, my favorite color ^_^

I also love these seasons because that's about the only time we do Rite I. Ever since St. Alban's combined the 9am and 11:15am Sunday services a couple of years ago, Rite I is used only during the quiet, solemn seasons of Lent and Advent. It really is a shame, I find Rite II to be rather uninspiring. I feel God's presence (not to say He isn't there anyway) much more when I am surrounded by sacred music and the rhythmic beauty of both sung and spoken older language similar to that of the Shakespearean English of the KJV rather than the boring modern English.

But dislikes aside, I look forward to Lent as a time to prepare to be washed clean again. I like to spend this season thinking about what it is I'm doing wrong with my life and try to figure out how I can change it for the better. I always have a hard time coming up with a Lenten Rule each year, but Sean gave me a good idea on the way home tonight. I noted how he is always calm, even when I'm throwing a temper tantrum. He's like a calm spot on a turbulent sea, and I can never figure out how he can be so forgiving and caring even when I'm a huge pain in the...er...neck.

So I'm thinking I will form my Lenten Rule for this year around becoming more like my name suggests (For those without a name-meaning chart, Anna means Grace). I truly want to be more graceful and less prone to anger and resentment.

Oh Blessed Jesus, look upon me with those eyes with which thou didst look upon Magdalene at the feast, Peter in the hall, the thief upon the cross: that, with the thief, I may entreat thee humbly. Remember me, Lord, in thy kingdom; that, with Peter, I may bitterly weep; that, with Magdalene, I may hear thee say, Thy sins be forgiven thee. -St Augustine