We start Lent on Ash Wednesday, with a Sung Eucharist service from 12noon (Wednesday 22 February).
The purpose of Lent is to prepare Christians for the annual celebration of the death and resurrection of the Lord, that is the paschal triduum of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the first Eucharist of Easter.
Ash Wednesday is the principal day of penitence in the Christian year, for we have to face the need for it and then express it first if Lent is to be a time for spiritual renewal and growth.
We also have Stations of the Cross on Saturday mornings from 12noon. This short service gives an opportunity for prayer and reflection.
Services dates and times:
Saturday 11 March
Saturday 25 March
Saturday 8 April (Holy Saturday)
The Stations of the Cross have formed part of Christian devotion at Passiontide for many centuries because they enable us to engage actively with the path of suffering walked by Jesus. They originated when early Christians visited Jerusalem and wanted to follow literally in the footsteps of Jesus, tracing the path from Pilate’s house to Calvary, pausing for prayer and devotion at various points. Eventually those pilgrims brought the practice back to their home countries, and, ever since then, Christians of differing traditions have used this form of devotion.
In the late fourteenth century, the Franciscans were given the responsibility for the holy places of Jerusalem and they erected tableaux to aid the devotion of visitors. These kinds of images are now commonplace inside churches around the world, and occasionally outside them too.
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