Lent

Lent is a season of reflection and self-examination as preparation for the celebration of Easter. Beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on the Saturday before Easter, believers reflect on the brokenness of the world and the brokenness of our own lives in light of the reconciling work of Christ. The color of Lent is purple – to signify penitence and preparation; with rough textures of burlap to suggest the biblical references to sack cloth and ashes.

Symbols include:

• ashes - a symbol of human mortality and a sign of repentance; on Ash Wednesday worshippers may choose to receive the Imposition of Ashes, the sign of the cross, on their forehead or the top of their hand as a visible reminder of our sin and God’s costly and redeeming love revealed in Jesus Christ
• veil or cloth – placed over or around the sanctuary as a reminder of our mortality, and the darkness that covered the face of the earth at the death of our Lord
• Stripping of the Sanctuary – at the close of the Good Friday/Tennebrae Worship, the altar table is “stripped” of the “finery,” brass candlesticks and cross, in order to focus our attention on the simple yet profound truth of Christ redeeming death.
• Holy Week: the week before Easter, the congregation focuses on the events of Jesus’ last week before crucifixion. Purple suggest the solemnity of the season, inviting deep reflection.

Symbols of Holy Week:

• Crown of Thorns – placed on Christ’ head by the soldiers symbolizes the Passion and the Crucifixion.
• Coins – thirty silver coins was the price of the betrayal of Christ by Judas Iscariot and becomes for us an invitation to our betrayal of Christ and the way of Christ.
• Nails – Three nails are a symbol of the Passion (the gospel story of Jesus’ trial and sufferings)
• Communion Cup and Bread – Christians commemorate Jesus’ Last Supper when he broke bread and gave the cup to his disciples, initiating the Eucharist (meaning “thanksgiving”; we commonly call the Lord’s Supper). The cup represents the blood of Christ, shed for us. The bread represents the body of Christ, broken for us.

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