Ash Wednesday & Lent
Beginning on March 2, 2022 with Ash Wednesday, St Stephen’s will mark the church season of Lent. This season lasts 40 days (not counting Sundays) until Easter and is a time of preparation for that celebration.
Learn more about Ash Wednesday and Lent here and here.
At St Stephen’s we will be joining our neighbours, St Timothy, to mark Ash Wednesday with worship at 1:30 (at St Stephen’s) and 7:30 (at St Timothy). You are invited to attend either service in-person, join us by Zoom at 1:30, or watch the livestream beginning at 7:30.
On the Sundays in Lent, you will notice some small changes to our worship. These changes encourage us to notice the themes of Lent: the importance of repentance and renewed commitment to God.
Many people find the season of Lent to be a good time to try out a new spiritual practice or activity. Some easy online options include
- a daily email from the monks of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist (Brother, Give Us A Word: a daily email for Lent)
- a daily email from Living Compass exploring Living Well Through Lent.
- A little bit silly, and very much geared to the Episcopal Church in the US, Lent Madness is a fun way to learn more about saints and others who offer us examples of Christian faith.
At St Stephen’s this Lent, we will explore three themes connected to the practice of praying with a labyrinth. Labyrinths are spiritual tools that allow the user to take a mini-pilgrimage without actually traveling. They pre-date Christianity and appear in many different cultures across time. One of the most famous labyrinths in a Christian setting is the cathedral at Chartres, France. Different people have different practices they engage with when praying with a labyrinth, but one pattern to think of three stages: “releasing as you start toward the center, receiving as you pause there, and returning as you journey back out.” Our Lenten series this year will invite us to reflect on these three stages:
RELEASE (what might we need to let go if we are to receive the gifts God has for us?) RECEIVE (what are those gifts God has for us?)
RETURN (how might those gifts from God be drawing us into the world?).
For more information on our series, please see the Events page.