Lent is a time of coming to purity of heart. It is the pure of heart who see God. It is a challenge. But I think the community should support us in this by certain signs, symbols, and actions. The older monks may remember how dramatic Lent was. We put up this great Lenten curtain in the church. Each time you entered the church, you were confronted with this mass of purple that said, This is a special time. You are getting ready to penetrate through the veil and come to the fullness of the Paschal joy. You could not miss Lent. It just knocked you over. We had a lot of other things, too. We had much more fasting with days of bread of water. We had penitential processions through the cloister as we sang the penitential psalms. Then we would prostrate in church and chant the litany of saints. There were a lot of things that constantly reminded us of this special time of Lent. What can we do today? What do we want to do as a community to support each member of the community in entering more fully into the full meaning of this wonderful time?
This is part three of a talk given on the Rule of Saint Benedict by Abbot M. Basil Pennington, OCSO; Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery. Sunday, February 4, 2001
© Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery, 2006
