February 2024 Lion's Roar: All things Lent

 In just a few short weeks, Lent will be here.  Lent is a time for self-inventory, self-discipline, and self-improvement.  We have some special events to help you on your journey.

            “Forty Days through Mark with St. Mark’s” will upload to our Facebook page Monday through Saturday at 7a.  We’ll start with a reading from the Gospel of Mark and I’ll make a few comments on the text.  The entire Gospel of Mark will be read by the end of the forty days.

            Each Tuesday (starting 2/21) Deacon Dorothy will lead our Lenten series.  We’ll gather at 4p for a meal of soup and bread.  The program will be from 5-6p.  Join us at All Saints’ or on Zoom.

            Fridays at 4p Dorothy and Andy will lead us in a virtual Stations of the Cross via Zoom.

            Lent Madness will be back.  A bracket of 32 Saints has been assembled.  Read about each Saint at lentmadness.org to fill out your bracket.  Each day during Lent (with a few exceptions), two Saints face off until the bracket is down to two.  Who will win this year’s Golden Halo???

So, how do we determine when Lent starts and when is the date for Easter?  Christians celebrated Easter at different times for the first several centuries.  There was no common date.  That gets confusing real fast!! 

King Oswy invited theologians and other learned individuals to gather at Whitby (Northumbria) in 664 of the Common Era (formerly A.D., or Anno Domini, in the year of Our Lord).  The Council of Whitby allowed both the Eastern and the Western Churches to make their case for the date of Easter. 

After hearing both sides, Oswy sided with the Western date, which is determined by the following formula:

            The first Sunday

            After the first full moon

            After the vernal (spring) equinox

Ash Wednesday is then 40 days before Easter—Sundays are not included in the counting.  Our brothers and sisters in the East continue to follow the Eastern dating, which differs.  In 2024, Eastern Easter is over a month after Easter in the West (5 May compared to our 31 March).

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