Grace Cathedral

Dear Cathedral Friends,

Evil, assaults, sudden and unprepared death, false doctrine, schism, hardness of heart, contempt, battle, murder, oppression, and tyranny – Often prayers stay in the realm of comfort, but the Great Litany, which we will pray this Sunday, March 9, dares to name and engage God in the deepest laments of our hearts.

Comprehensive in its enumeration of human sin, Thomas Cranmer’s version of the Great Litany was introduced into worship in the Church of England in 1544 as the first rite published in English. It followed a long church history of petitionary prayers and responses that have been prayed since at least the 5th Century. Despite their antiquity, uncomfortable honesty, and starkly penitential nature, the prayers of the Great Litany offer a beautifully faithful response to our human longings.

As we observe the first week of Lent, our worship together invites personal and communal petition to God, the source we can count on to hold us in our brokenness and to offer us the renewal, reconciliation, and grounding we need so much. 

To the many laments, we will pray: Have Mercy Upon Us; Spare us good Lord; Good Lord deliver us; and We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord, acknowledging our dependence on God to help restore goodness and peace. 

On Ash Wednesday, we entered Lent with the reminder of our mortality, remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.  With that honest appraisal in mind, the Rev. Dr. Malcolm C. Young’s Ash Wednesday sermon, To Dwell on Earth No More, asked the question: What if we could see things as they really are?

In a time when many feel isolated and overwhelmed, looking at reality can be unsettling or even scary. It might be tempting to withdraw from the world and go it alone. As part of a faith community, and especially in Lent, we are encouraged to be together, to relinquish our sense of control, and to turn to God as our resource instead. The Great Litany we will pray this Sunday invites reality into conversation with divine grace and mercy, demonstrating and effecting our trust in and reliance on God.

To see things as they are, Lent encourages us to leave off the distractions and indulgences that take us away from God. My sermon from last Sunday, Silence is not a Failure to Respond, offers some suggestions for Lenten practices. These can invite a deep encounter to help us see God’s reality and to know the closeness to God we are always offered. 

Learn more about contemplative practices for Lent this Sunday, March 9 at our adult formation program on Sunday at 12:45 pm in the Chapter Room.

Continued Blessings this Lent,

Mary Carter 
The Rev. Canon Mary Carter Greene
Canon Pastor