March 17, 2013

Liturgical Guide: Lent


The hymns used during Lent in the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) mirror the season's themes of baptism, conversion, and forgiveness as we prepare ourselves through prayer, fasting, penance, and almsgiving to celebrate the Paschal mysteries of Holy Week. In the following video, Dr. Scott Hahn of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology reflects upon the 40 days of Lent in light of Sacred Scripture, the living transmission of the faith, and the authoritative teaching of the Church: Genesis 7 (Noah and the Ark),  Exodus 24 (Moses Fasting),  Numbers 13 (12 Spies in the Promised Land),  1 Samuel 17 (David and Goliath),  1 Kings 19 (Elijah Fasts on Mt. Horeb),  Jonah 3 (Jonah in Nineveh),  Matthew 4 (Jesus in the Desert),  and Deuteronomy 6-8 (Quotes used by Jesus). In the early Church we see St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c.115-c.202) writing to Pope St. Victor I (d.199) regarding the practice of fasting prior to Easter. Then, there is reference in the canons of the 1st Council of Nicea (325) to the 40 days of Lent. By the time of St. John Cassian (c.360-c.435), we see this early monk and ascetic writing detailed instruction about Lent. In recent times, Pius XII (1876-1958) promulgated Maxima Redemptionis in 1955 which established the liturgical reform of Holy Week still used today in the Catholic Church.
 

LITURGY OF THE HOURS (1975)
53. The Master Came
85. Now Let Us All with One Accord
86. Creator of the Earth and Skies
87. Lord, Your Glory in Christ We Have Seen
88. Praise to the Holiest
89. The Glory of These Forty Days
90. Grant to Us
92. Take Up Your Cross
93. For Forty Years
94. Lord Who Throughout These Forty Days
95. This is Our Accepted Time
96. Draw Near, O Lord
97. When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
98. Keep in Mind
99. When from the Darkness
100. Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence 

DIVINE OFFICE (1974)
15. God of thy Pity, Unto Us Thy Children
16. O God Creator of Us All
17. Lord Jesus, Think On Me
18. Jesus, the Sun of Ransomed Earth
19. Now Let Us All With One Accord

ROMAN BREVIARY
Audi, Benigne Conditor
Ex More Docti Mystico
Iam, Christe, Sol Iustitiae
O Sol Salutis, Initimis
Precemur Omnes Cernui

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