Dating back to at least 325ad, and the First Council of Nicaea. However, the formal canonization of Lent was preceded by local practices which varied from 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and the full 6 weeks we currently observe.

Light and Revelation are the themes of the season between Christmas and Lent; Epiphany calls us to explore and discover who the Christ child really is and what his birth means. No song does that better than the five familiar verses of the first American Christmas Carol: “We Three Kings.”

Advent is a special season in the Church year…and one which is being lost as “Christmas Creep” has moved forward on the calendar to the day after Halloween (or earlier). 

Between now and Reformation Day (which is always the last Sunday in October) we’ll be focusing on giving thanks to God in our liturgy. The Bible has a great deal to say about thanking and praising God for all sorts of reasons…

When you hear the word “apocalypse” you probably think of something terrible happening. “The complete and final destruction of the world.” is the first definition my computer’s dictionary gives for the word. But that’s actually not what the word used to mean.