Clergy Resources

Lent

Forty days of self-examination, repentance, prayer, and fasting — the Church's great journey toward the Cross and the empty tomb

"Return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning." — Joel 2:12
Memento, homo, quia pulvis es

What is Lent?

Lent is the season of forty days beginning on Ash Wednesday and concluding at the close of Compline on Holy Saturday, immediately before the Easter Vigil begins. It is the Church's great annual season of penitence, self-examination, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving — a solemn preparation for the celebration of Christ's Passion, Death, and Resurrection at Easter.

The number forty is rich with biblical resonance: forty days of rain in the flood; forty years of Israel's wilderness wandering; forty days of Moses on Sinai; forty days of Elijah's journey to Horeb; and above all, forty days of Jesus' fasting and temptation in the wilderness — which the Church now enters with him each year. Lent is not a morbid season of self-punishment; it is a season of return — to God, to ourselves, to the truth of who we are and who he is.

"Even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments."

— Joel 2:12–13
Ash Wednesday — the imposition of ashes
Ash Wednesday — the imposition of ashes marks the beginning of Lent: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

Liturgical Colour: Purple (or Sackcloth)

The liturgical colour of Lent is purple — the colour of penitence, mourning, and royalty. It is a deeper, more sombre purple than Advent's royal expectation: the purple of Lent carries grief, mortality, and the weight of sin. Some traditions use unbleached linen (sometimes called "sackcloth") instead of purple — a deliberately rough and unadorned fabric that strips the sanctuary of its finery, echoing the season's spirit of austerity.

Purple

The standard Lenten colour — penitence, mortality, and the solemnity of the journey to the Cross

Unbleached Linen

An ancient alternative — austere, stripped, and deliberately plain; used by many parishes as a stark contrast to festal seasons

Rose / Pink

Fourth Sunday — Laetare Sunday: a single note of refreshment and joy amid the penitential fast

During Lent, flowers are typically removed from the sanctuary, the Gloria in Excelsis is omitted from the Eucharist, and the Alleluia is suppressed — traditionally "buried" at Shrove Tuesday and not heard again until the Easter Vigil. These liturgical silences are themselves powerful acts of formation.

The Three Lenten Disciplines

The Anglican tradition, drawing on scripture and the ancient practice of the Church, commends three principal disciplines for Lent. These are not ends in themselves but means of grace — ways of clearing the interior space in which God can do his work of renewal.

First Discipline
Matthew 6:16–18

Fasting

The voluntary abstinence from food, or from particular pleasures, as an act of solidarity with the hungry, a discipline of the body, and a declaration that we do not live by bread alone. Fasting sharpens prayer and softens pride. Clergy are encouraged to guide their congregations in practical and sustainable fasting disciplines.

Second Discipline
Matthew 6:5–8

Prayer

The deepening and enlarging of the prayer life — more time in silence, more use of the Daily Office, more openness to contemplation. Lent is an opportunity to introduce or recover spiritual practices that can sustain the congregation's prayer life throughout the rest of the year.

Third Discipline
Matthew 6:2–4

Almsgiving

The generous giving of money, time, and care to those in need — as a fruit of the interior work of fasting and prayer. What is saved through fasting is given to the poor. Almsgiving is the outward, justice-shaped expression of inward Lenten conversion.

Ash Wednesday and the Sundays of Lent

Lent begins with the profound liturgical act of Ash Wednesday and unfolds through six Sundays, each with its own character and lectionary focus. Note that technically the Sundays of Lent are in Lent but not of Lent — they remain the Lord's Day, a day of resurrection, and the full fast is slightly relaxed on Sundays.

Ash
Wednesday
Ashes & Repentance

Ash Wednesday — The Beginning of Lent

The imposition of ashes with the words "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return" or "Repent, and believe the Gospel." The Joel 2 call to return, the Matthew 6 teaching on the three disciplines, and the Psalm 51 confession are the appointed readings. Purple vestments.

1st
Sunday
Temptation

The Temptation of Christ

All three years of the lectionary appoint the temptation narrative (Matthew 4, Mark 1, or Luke 4). We enter the wilderness with Jesus. The sermon may explore the nature of temptation, spiritual warfare, and the weapons of prayer, scripture, and fasting.

2nd
Sunday
The Call

The Cost of Discipleship

The transfiguration (Year A: Matthew 17), Nicodemus (Year B: John 3), or the call of Abram (Year C: Genesis 15) is appointed. The common thread is the costly demand of faith: leaving what is known, trusting what is unseen, and following the One who leads through death to life.

3rd
Sunday
Thirst & Renewal

Living Water & the Temple

The Woman at the Well (Year A: John 4), the Cleansing of the Temple (Year B: John 2), and the Parable of the Fig Tree (Year C: Luke 13) are appointed. The theme of spiritual thirst, the urgency of repentance, and God's patience are brought together.

4th
Laetare
Laetare — Joy

Laetare Sunday — Refreshment Sunday

Rose vestments may be worn. Laetare — "Rejoice!" The name comes from the Introit: Laetare Ierusalem. The blind man (Year A: John 9), the Prodigal Son (Year C: Luke 15), or the lifting up of the bronze serpent (Year B: John 3) softens the fast with notes of grace, joy, and return.

5th
Passion
Passion Sunday

Passion Sunday — The Shadow of the Cross

Traditionally called Passion Sunday — the intensity of the season deepens. The raising of Lazarus (Year A: John 11), the grain of wheat (Year B: John 12), or Mary's anointing (Year C: John 12) is appointed. Passiontide properly begins here, and veiling of crosses and images is customary in some traditions.

6th
Palm Sunday
Holy Week Begins

Palm Sunday — The Liturgy of the Palms

The entry into Jerusalem and the reading of the full Passion narrative. The service begins in acclamation and ends in crucifixion — the full arc of Holy Week contained in one liturgy. A procession with palms, the dramatic reading of the Passion (with the congregation voicing the crowd), and the transition to red vestments.

Preaching in Lent

Lent is one of the greatest seasons for sustained, serious preaching. The congregation is in a particular posture of openness, self-examination, and attentiveness that the rest of the year rarely provides. Preachers who use Lent well can form their congregations theologically and spiritually in ways that bear fruit for years.

Ash Wednesday

The Ash Wednesday homily sets the tone for the entire season. It needs to be honest about mortality and sin without being merely morbid, and hopeful about grace without being merely reassuring. The astonishing pastoral gift of Ash Wednesday — that people hear, "Remember you are dust" and respond with thanks — is itself a sermon waiting to be preached.

The Scrutiny Gospels (Year A)

In Year A, the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent use the great Johannine texts associated with the ancient Scrutinies of the catechumenate: the Woman at the Well (John 4), the Man Born Blind (John 9), and the Raising of Lazarus (John 11). These three texts — water, light, and life — form a magnificent Lenten preaching sequence on what baptism means and what Christ gives. Even in years B and C, preachers are encouraged to draw on these texts.

Passion Sunday and Holy Week

By the Fifth Sunday, the shadow of the Cross is unmistakable. Preaching in Passiontide should resist the temptation to soften what is coming. The congregation needs to stand at the foot of the Cross before they can stand at the empty tomb. The preacher's task in Holy Week is not explanation but contemplation — to hold the mystery open, and to let the congregation look.

"Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days."

— Isaiah 53:10

Lenten Parish Programmes

Many parishes in the Diocese of False Bay offer additional programmes during Lent to deepen the congregation's engagement with the season. The following are recommended models that clergy may find useful:

  1. Lenten Study GroupsSmall group Bible study or book discussion, meeting weekly through the six weeks of Lent. Groups may follow a structured course (e.g. on the Sermon on the Mount, the Passion narratives, or a Lenten discipline theme) or work through a devotional book together. Even two or three people gathering in a home is a genuine Lenten study group.
  2. The Way of the Cross (Stations)The Stations of the Cross — whether prayed corporately in church on Friday evenings or individually at any time — are one of the great devotional gifts of the Lenten tradition. Many different forms are available; the Diocese can provide approved texts. The Stations are especially powerful when combined with silence and meditative music.
  3. Compline and Night PrayerThe offering of Compline — night prayer from the Daily Office — on one or more evenings per week during Lent is a powerful gift to the parish. Its rhythm of examination, confession, commendation, and rest maps perfectly onto the spirit of the season.
  4. Penitential Services and Opportunities for ConfessionLent is the appointed season for the Sacrament of Penance. Clergy are encouraged to offer public penitential services (the Litany, the Kyrie, or the Order for Reconciliation) and to make clear that individual Confession and Absolution is available to any who desire it. This ministry is often deeply valued and rarely offered — Lent is the moment to make it known.
  5. Almsgiving and Social Justice ActionThe parish's Lenten fast should have a practical, outward dimension. Linking the congregation's fasting and giving to a specific local need — a food bank, a shelter, a community project — gives the season concrete and missional weight. The Diocese's Social Development office can help identify partnership opportunities.

Hymnody & Music

Resources for Clergy

The following resources are available to clergy of the Diocese for planning and preparing Lenten worship, study programmes, and penitential services. Contact the Diocesan office for further assistance.