On Wednesday, March 1, we enter the season of Lent with the service of Ash Wednesday.  You will notice immediately that not only the words of music change, but also the sound of the melodies we sing.  We are penitential--there are no alleluias spoken or sung during Lent.   "Forty Day" hymns abound--"Lord, who throughout these forty days", "The glory of these forty days", "Forty days and forty nights" and they all remind us that Lent is indeed forty days long.  The actual melodies of psalms and hymns become more penitential in nature, almost sad, as many of them are written in a minor key.  The theme of our sinful nature runs through the music, both service music and hymns.  We do not sing the Gloria in Lent but instead sing the Kyrie eleison--Lord have mercy upon us.  We sing hymns that ask for forgiveness for our sins and we are indeed penitent.  We are called upon to give up something for Lent, but I would suggest that instead of giving up something, we should take a discipline upon ourselves--a discipline of Wednesday evening soup and Evensong and Sunday morning service.  From hymn 142--"And through these days of penitence, and through thy passion tide, yea, evermore, in life and death, Jesus! with us abide".

Lynn Gardner, Organist/Choirmaster