10 Powerful Resources for Lent

Do you have some Logos resources that you find particularly appropriate for the Lenten season?

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

I just wanted to add a [Y] for The Services of the Christian Year from the Library of Christian Worship (vol. 5). I come for a non-denominational background that didn't follow the Christian Year. About 3 years ago, I decided to follow the lectionary readings for the Lenten season and found this resource quite useful. I have multiple highlights. (but NOT in my iPhone--we can't do that yet. but if you want to join me in proclaiming our love for that possibility, follow this link and let your voice be heard! now in 12th place, up from 13 just one hour ago!)

Here is the basic outline of the content for Lent in that volume:

The Season of Lent
1. Introduction to Lenten Worship
  1. An Introduction to Lent
  2. The Spiritual Discipline of Lent
    1. Searching the Scriptures Together
    2. Prayer and Fasting
    3. Theology of Lent in Practice
  3. Some Questions and Answers about Lent
2. Resources for Planning Lenten Worship
  1. Lectionary Texts for the Lenten Season
  2. Traditional Opening Prayers for Lent
  3. Prayers for Lent
    1. Opening Prayers or Prayers of Invocation
    2. Prayer of Confession
    3. Prayer of Illumination
    4. Offertory Prayers
    5. Pastoral Prayer
  4. The Great Litany
  5. Prayer of Thanksgiving for Lenten Eucharist
  6. Lenten Blessings
  7. Resources for Lenten Retreats and Disciplines
    1. A Lenten Form for Self-Examination
    2. A Worksheet for the Development of a Lenten Rule of Disicpline
    3. Three Kinds of Fast for Lent
3. The Arts in Lenten Worship
  1. The Environment for Lenten Worship
    1. Simplifying
    2. Holy Spring
  2. The Environment for the Services of Lent
  3. An Anthology of Hymns and Songs for Lent
4. Sample services for Lent
  1. A Traditional Ash Wednesday Serives
  2. A Creative Ash Wednesday Servie
    1. The Basic Pattern
    2. Commentary
  3. A Convergence Ash Wednesday Service
  4. A Traditional Service for the Sundays of Lent
  5. A Creative Service for the Sundays of Lent
    1. The Basic Pattern
    2. Commentary

Here is the link to the resource as well as a snapshot of the product page

This is a rich resource for me. The contributors come from all kinds of backgrounds. That is part of Robert Webber's desire to bring the church together in worship, to learn from each other, and recover what may have been lost or overlooked in various traditions. My own church likes the "freedom" we have to plan our worship, and that freedom includes joining a large tradition that follows the lectionary as well as mixing that up with our own structures of doing (Bible) book studies, Thematic studies, etc. But for me, following the Lenten Season was a rich, rich experience, and without this resource, I would have missed much.

Eleanor Emmott

This list would make an excellent "Reading List" for Logos4.

I tried to search for a Lenten reading list, but no one has added anything like that.

Thanks for this post!

Friedrich

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/228901#Comment_228901

This list would make an excellent "Reading List" for Logos4.

I tried to search for a Lenten reading list, but no one has added anything like that.

Thanks for this post!

well, I guess we just found "someone" who will create such a list! [:)]

Eleanor Emmott

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/228905#Comment_228905

Yes... I have started it... now other people should add to it! [;)]

http://topics.logos.com/Lent

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/228905#Comment_228905

Ladder of Divine Ascent
by Saint John Climacus is traditionally read during Lent in Orthodox monasteries. Unfortunately it is not yet available in Logos format. Last year I read First Fruits of Prayer: A Forty-Day Journey Through the Canon of St. Andrew
by Frederica Mathewes-Green, again unavailable in Logos format. The year before that I read For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy
by Alexander Schmemann in a group setting. My basic approach is:

general Lent I read books on prayer or on the life of Christ
in the last week I switch to books on the Passion or the Old Testament foreshadowing of the Passion
on Good Friday I read a book on the Seven Last Words

Frank Heverly

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/228950#Comment_228950

WOW! It must have been real difficult to mention Lent without getting any Old Catholic (Roman) mentions or references in there. Was St. Peter a Baptist???

Friedrich

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/228945#Comment_228945

Yes... I have started it... now other people should add to it!

http://topics.logos.com/Lent

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeett!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [Y]

Friedrich

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/228957#Comment_228957

WOW! It must have been real difficult to mention Lent without getting any Old Catholic (Roman) mentions or references in there. Was St. Peter a Baptist???

wellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll . . . [;)] I know he wanted to be washed all over!

. . . but for certain I know that the Apostle Paul spoke Old English.

Jayson Bradley

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/228950#Comment_228950

Ladder of Divine Ascent
by Saint John Climacus is traditionally read during Lent in Orthodox monasteries.

This is one of my favorite books of all time! We do need to get that (not to mention Francis de Sales)

David Betts

Logos has some very good resources for discovering the Hebrew [not just "Jewish"] Roots of our Faith before being westernized by Rome. While some are focusing on what leads up to "Easter," others are focusing on what leads up to Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits. A search in Logos for "Messianic," depending on your resources, will bring up "God's Appointed Times: A Practical Guide for Understanding and Celebrating the Biblical Holidays." More understanding can be obtained from "Yeshua: A Guide to the Real Jesus and the Original Church." I suggest reading these and similar resources to get a more Scriptural perspective. We believe He (The Passover Lamb) was executed for our transgressions on Wednesday, a High Sabbath, and Resurrected, as "Master of the Sabbath," just before Sundown on Sabbath, thereby completing the three full days and nights as prophesied. No matter how we count, we can never obtain 3 full days and 3 full nights from Friday to Sunday morning. May our Gracious Father bless those searching for Him with a pure heart.

NetworkGeek

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/228997#Comment_228997

In humility I just did an update to the reading list to add some resources that were mentioned on the blog, plus a couple of my own. Let me know if I messed anything up, I hope the additions are useful!

fgh

Do you have some Logos resources that you find particularly appropriate for the Lenten season?

The Imitation of Christ.

My basic approach is:

general Lent I read books on prayer or on the life of Christ

We must be thinking alike (again). I started one on prayer on Tuesday. Best spiritual writer in Sweden. I found he's actually been translated, so I'll make a Suggestions post some day.

on Good Friday I read a book on the Seven Last Words

Sounds appropriate, but I can't really remember seeing one. I do Lamentations and the Way of the Cross + all the liturgical stuff I want but don't get in the poor services around here. And sometimes Melito of Sardis (do we seriously not have On Pascha in Logos? I can't find it.).

WOW! It must have been real difficult to mention Lent without getting any Old Catholic (Roman) mentions or references in there.

"Old Catholic"? The Old Catholic Church split off from Rome in the 1800s. I'm sure they've published something, but I've never seen any of it, so avoiding mentioning it can't have been difficult at all. [:P]

Ladder of Divine Ascent by Saint John Climacus

For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy by Alexander Schmemann

Francis de Sales

+ Melito of Sardis: On Pascha

and Jean-Pierre de Caussade

and a few good Way of the Cross's.

Friedrich

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/229205#Comment_229205

MJ, tell me about the ladder of Divine Ascent--if you have a moment. I suppose I could look it up too. Seems like a well-appreciated book. I have heard of the author, but never read the work.

fgh: On Pascha is now on radar. gracias.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/229242#Comment_229242

The Ladder of Divine Ascent is a "manual" on growing in the Christian life which is best described by the table of contents and a sample summary.

to read the book online see http://www.questia.com/library/book/the-ladder-of-divine-ascent-by-saint-john-climacus-colm-luibheid-norman-russell.jsp

table on contents:

Step 1: On Renunciation of Life
Step 2: On Detachment
Step 3: On Exile
Step 4: On Obedience
Step 5: On Penitence
Step 6: On Remembrance of Death
Step 7: On Mourning
Step 8: On Placidity and Meekness
Step 9: On Malice
Step 10: On Slander
Step 11: On Talkativeness and Silence
Step 12: On Falsehood
Step 13: On Despondency
Step 14: On Gluttony
Step 15: On Chastity
Step 16: On Avarice
Step 17: On Poverty
Step 18: On Insensitivity
Step 19: On Sleep, Prayer and the Singing in Church of Psalms
Step 20: On Alertness
Step 21: On Unmanly Fears
Step 22: On Vainglory
Step 23: On Pride
Step 24: On Meekness, Simplicity, Guilelessness, and Wickedness
Step 25: On Humility
Step 26: On Discernment
A Brief Summary of All the Preceding Steps
Step 27: On Stillness
Step 28: On Prayer
Step 29: On Dispassion
Step 30: On Faith, Hope, and Love
A Brief Summary and Exhortation

a sample summary from an online study of the book see http://www.myocn.net/index.php/The-Ladder-of-Divine-Ascent/

Keeping Our Mouths Shut

Step 10

Part 1 On Slander

What
is Slander?

a. Slander is an offspring of hatred, a
subtle yet coarse disease , a leech lurking unfelt, wasting and draining the
blood of love. It is simulation of love, the patron of a heavy and unclean
heart, the ruin of chastity.

b. Slander is the child of hatred and
remembrance of wrong

sometimes covered by ‘pious
intentions’

How
does Slander appear?

a. It puts on the appearance of love and
is the ambassador of an unholy and unclean heart.

Can
love help us?

a. Love will cover a multitude of sins
(1Pet 4:8)

How
many times have you fallen into the trap of criticizing someone?

a. James 3:9,10 “With it we bless our God and Father, and
with it we curse men,

who have been made in the
similitude of God.”

b. I have known a man who sinned openly
and repented secretly.

How
many hard feelings do you harbor for what others have done to you?

John
condemns slander because of the attitude which lies behind it. Slander is
the fruit of a judgmental spirit.

Should
you condemn someone?

8. How do I stop slandering others?

a.
Remember all are created in God’s image.

b. Remember
all are subject to fall and most if not all have already fallen.

9. How
do I stop my brother from slander?

a.
Begin when it starts by telling your friend to stop it.

b.
Say something positive about the person being slandered

c.
Pray for the one slandered and the slanderer.

Accomplish these two and you will have ascended the tenth rung of the
ladder!!

Sample text:

Step 10

ON SLANDER

I imagine that no one with any sense would dispute that slander
is the child of hatred and remembrance of wrongs. Hence the need to
discuss it next in the order after its forbears.

Slander is the offspring of hatred, a subtle and yet crass disease, a
leech in hiding and escaping notice, wasting and draining away the
lifeblood of love. It puts on the appearance of love and is the ambassa-
dor of an unholy and unclean heart. And it is the ruin of chastity.

There are girls who flaunt their shamelessness, but there are oth-
ers who are much worse, for they put on the appearance of great
modesty while secretly engaging in abominable behavior. So it is
with shameful vices. And indeed there are numerous insincere maid-
ens : hypocrisy, cunning, melancholy, brooding over past injuries, se-
cret contempt for others. They put on a show of doing one thing—
and then act otherwise.

I have rebuked people who were engaged in slander, and, in self‐
defense, these evildoers claimed to be acting out of love and concern
for the victim of their slander. My answer to that was to say: "Then
stop that kind of love, or else you will be making a liar out of him
who declared, 'I drove away the man who secretly slandered his
neighbor' (Ps. 100:5). If, as you insist, you love that man, then do not
be making a mockery of him, but pray for him in secret, for this is the
kind of love that is acceptable to the Lord. And remember—now I say
this as something to be pondered, and do not start passing judgment

-155-

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com

Publication Information: Book Title:
The Ladder of Divine Ascent. Contributors: Colm Luibheid - transltr,
Norman Russell - transltr, Saint John Climacus - author. Publisher:
Paulist Press. Place of Publication: Mahwah, NJ. Publication Year: 1982.
Page Number: 155.

Friedrich

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/229281#Comment_229281

wow! what a run down--thank you, MJ! And I actually frequent myocn, but it is for their radio. Will have to check the other stuff out.

Noticed: where is mention of "joy" in that study . . .

I do like how the early fathers expressed themselves and thought about life.