Lent: Liturgical Reflections

Lenten Living & Lenten Liturgy

With Lent beginning next week, it is a good time for us to begin contemplating what fruit the season of Lent is supposed to bear in our spiritual lives, and how we can encourage that growth. We are all familiar with the Lenten standards of No-Meat-Fridays (or Fish Frys!), or possibly giving up something for the season. However, it is important to remember that the things we sacrifice in Lent have a purpose beyond just making us feel sad or guilty. When we encounter suffering, either on a small or large scale, we have the opportunity to better understand the suffering our Lord endured in his Passion, and thus, just how much he loves us. Our Lady also modeled this beautifully for her children in how she also endured her seven sorrows due to her closeness with her son, and we Catholics partake in her sorrows on each Lenten Friday at Stations of the Cross when we sing the hymn Stabat Mater Dolorosa (At the Cross Her Station Keeping).

During Lent, we are also called to fast or abstain from certain things. This is partially because inviting small sacrifices or sorrows into our lives unites us with the suffering love of Christ. However, fasting also helps us simplify our lives to focus more intensely on our relationship with God. The Church also reflects this fasting in how she prays during this season of penitence, and the sanctuary even looks different. The church is decorated more sparsely, and the flowers and all living plants are removed from the sanctuary. The priest wears the violet color associated with penance, with the exception of Laetare Sunday when we literally lighten up the violet to rose as we get a joyful reprieve.

We even fast musically in Lent! We bury our joyful alleluias for the season, and the Gloria is not sung on Sundays in Lent. Beyond that, there is even an instruction in the Roman Missal that “the use of instrumental music is allowed only to support the singing.” This reminds all of us that, as beings created in the image and likeness of God, our voices are the best instrument for worshipping our Creator. As we fast from the elaborate beauty of the spectacular sounds of the organ, or even the soaring lines of other musical instruments that augment the prayerful music at Mass, the focus is directed back to the simplicity of the faithful using the voices that God gave them to offer prayer and thanksgiving.

Thus, you will observe that in the season of Lent, the organ will step back and use softer and mellower sounds. The only time the organ will sound alone will be to introduce a melody for the voices to sing. Instead of glorious exuberant postludes, there will be an opportunity to embrace some sacred silence after Mass and perhaps stay for a moment or two to pray in thanksgiving. We will have a little outburst of joy on Laetare Sunday where the organ and instruments will lift their voices for one weekend before we enter into the final part of Lent and into the three holiest days of the entire liturgical year: The Sacred Triduum.

My favorite liturgy of the entire year is the Easter Vigil, when we begin in darkness, gathered around the sacred fire. In the proclamation of the Exsultet we hear: “The night shall be as bright as day, dazzling is the night for me, and full of gladness.” We hear the stories of the wondrous things God has done throughout salvation history. I most look forward to the return of the Gloria and the Alleluia when “the mighty voices of the peoples” make “the holy building shake with joy” … and our fantastic pipe organ is definitely going to contribute to that joy come Easter!

I wish you all a blessed and fruitful Lent!