I was thinking last week about how much I always look forward to Lent. Something in me really needs an extra nudge from time to time to either nurture a healthy habit or let a distracting one go. I know I’m the only one, but sometimes, I just need to be reminded of what is most important, of what is a healthier way of living. Lent does that for me, and it has offered this space for the Christian community for many, many centuries now.
One of the ways that Lent invites us to see things from a different perspective is through the particular music, readings, and prayers that we share during the forty days of our observance. When I first went to seminary, I loved hearing about how monks, nuns, priests, and other faithful Christians for over two thousand years have worked to capture some glimpse of God’s presence in their lives through a prayer or a song. And we have inherited those treasures. We have the opportunity to pause, to listen deeply, and to realign ourselves with the Spirit’s movement in our life. If we will only be willing…
The Exsultet is one of the most important prayers in the Church’s life, and the images and prayers that we chant at the Great Vigil of Easter have spoken to the lives of Christians for nearly fifteen hundred years. Each year, we gather at that special Great Vigil service and someone chants the Exsultet in the dark, with a candle. It is one of those prayers and chants that seems to take you back in time.
This year, I had a strange idea: what if I actually worked with the kids of the parish and found a way to chant the Exsultet together this year? What if we gathered on Wednesday evenings during Lent and spent some time praying together, learning a bit about the liturgy, and then worked on the chant together? Might this be a meaningful way to share Lent together after a hard two years? You can hear the portion we will learn in the video below!
I would like to try it, so I’m going to invite the children and youth (age 7 and up) of the parish to join me at 5:30 PM on Wednesday evenings in March (beginning March 9), preparing for the Great Vigil service which will be Saturday evening, April 16 at 7:00 PM. We’re moving the service time a bit earlier to make it even easier for families to come and share in these ancient prayers. So, see if this is something you might like to explore, and know that I’ll be there for you—just as so many others have been there in their parishes for centuries now. Let’s give Lent a chants. (haha!)
Blessings,
Stuart