Lent Is Coming!

And not a moment too soon.

I hope to post a number of Lenten hymns, and speak in general about the interesting problem of singing--an exercise of gladness--in a sorrowful way. The moods of the liturgical seasons are fascinating. We are lifted up and brought very low, many times over the course of a life. And through these cycles of joy, sorrow and glory we come to know Him, who, although He did not know sin, was made sin, so that we might become the very holiness of God.

Here's a little Lenten hymnody:

Forty days and forty nights

You were fasting in the wild;

forty days and forty nights,

tempted and yet undefiled.

Shall not we Your trials share,

learn Your discipline of will;

and with You by fast and prayer

wrestle with the powers of hell?

So, if Satan, pressing hard,

soul and body would destroy;

Christ, Who conquered, be our Guard,

give to us the Victor’s joy.

Savior, may we hear Your voice –

keep us constant at Your side;

and with You we shall rejoice

at the eternal Eastertide.