Music is such a wonderful aid to meditation and reflection that I realize the need to help all of us find appropriate music to assist us in this. Obviously, there are hundreds if not thousands of songs and musical pieces out there that would be appropriate so I have tried to post a sampling from different traditions. Also, I must confess that I am not a music expert by any sense of the imagination. I rely on Paul Neeley who posts extensively on music resources for all seasons of the church year. He recommends a few of these in particular: “A Song of Penitence” by Ryan Flanigan and “Rend Your Hearts” by The McMakens. Check out his link to Lenten, Holy Week and Easter resources.
Please add your suggestions in the comment section too. What is your favorite music for Lent? for Easter?
Here are some of the best resources (some outside the box) that I have found in the music area for Lent and Easter. Again I have tried to draw from a variety of traditions.
- GIA Publications has a very rich array of music for the season.
- Discipleship Ministries has good music resources for Lent, mainly available as free downloads.
- Liturgical Folk released this Lent album in 2019.
- Dust/Mercy by Hymns for the Architect (song for Ash Wednesday)
- Lent to Maundy Thursday by Page CXVI
- Good Friday to Easter by Page CXVI
- Engage Worship offers many worship ideas for Lent.
- Lenten Anthems from JW Pepper.
- Top 40 worship songs for Lent from Praise Charts.
- From CJM Music – Music and Liturgy for Lent
- Liturgy Tools offers free-use hymns and songs for the Lenten season
- Singing from the Lectionary – Songs and Hymns for Ash Wednesday and Lent, as well as almost every week of the church calendar
Spotify Playlists
- Contemplative Music for Lent by Christine Sine
- 40 Songs for 40 Days: A Lenten Playlist
- Lenten Playlist by Erica Bye
- Drawn to You: A Lenten Playlist by Audrey Assad
Gungor’s song “Beautiful Things” is a powerful song of brokenness and transformation.
A beautiful Celtic tune called “A Lenten Journey”.
Parts 1 and 2 of “A Celtic Lenten Journey” – Harp, Voice, and Violin
And a beautiful reflective song from one of my favourite musicians, Jeff Johnson.
Handel’s “Messiah” is now traditionally known as a Christmas piece but was originally written for Easter.
“Te Deum” – 5th Century is attributed to two Fathers and Doctors of the Church, St. Ambrose and St. Augustine and is one the most majestic chants in the Liturgy of the Church.
“The St. Matthew Passion”, is a sacred oratorio from the Passions written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel of Matthew (in the German translation of Martin Luther) to music, with interspersed chorales and arias. It is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of classical sacred music. If you choose to listen to this, make sure you have plenty of time – it is about 3 hours long.
“All Glory Laud and Honour” is the traditional hymn to sing on Palm Sunday.
“The Power of the Cross” – A beautiful reflective hymn for Good Friday.
And another classic – When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
The Old Rugged Cross – another old favourite
Check Out Other Godspace Resources:
Please check out our complete list of Godspace resources for Lent through Holy Week including our free downloads.
Godspace Resources:
Lord Lead Us To Repentance – A Lenten meditation video produced in 2012
Were You There When They Crucified My Lord? This meditation is designed for Good Friday and does not have music.
Is This the Fast? – A Lenten meditation produced in 2008
by Christine Sine
It’s official, Seattle has accumulated more February snow than any time since 1916. Last Saturday we all woke to a beautiful white winter wonderland, we pulled out our sleds and went off to have some fun. We weren’t the only ones. The local park was full of families sledding, skiing, snowshoeing and walking. I came home refreshed, renewed and revived.
I cannot remember the last time I took a whole day for play like this. It is sad that it takes such a rare event for many of us to get out and have some fun. Yet according to Stuart Brown of the National Institute for Play nothing lights up the brain like play. He believes it is as important as oxygen for our survival and may be God’s greatest gift to humankind. (The Gift of Wonder 54) Not just to humankind but to dogs too as you will see in this short video I put together (more fun for me). enjoying the snow with community members Dan and Lisa and my dog Goldie – she makes a great sled dog!
As I reflected on this I was reminded of what I had read in David Whyte’s Consolations just a couple of days before. He is talking about the feeling of being besieged but I am using it here in a broader sense
Being besieged asks us to begin the day not with a to do list but a not to do list, a moment outside of the time bound world in which it can be reordered and reprioritized. In this space of undoing and silence we create a foundation from which to reimagine our day and ourselves.
Beginning the daily conversation from a point of view of freedom and being untethered calls us to re-see ourselves, to re–enter the world as if for the first time (David Whyte, Consolations 28)
Snow forced me to do this.
- My not to do list embraced all the things I planned to do on Saturday – no gardening, no swapping that out for other hard work, no getting caught up in what I though still needed to be done, but allowing myself to let go of all I had intended and enjoy the wonder of this rare snow day in Seattle. We began the day with a community waffle breakfast. We had planned this to be a rather hurried pre-gardening event but it was such fun to sit round the table with all the members of our small community, enjoying the fun of each other’s presence. Yes we did talk about what we would like to see happen in the garden but it was fun, not work.
- Reimagine our day and ourselves – I am not just created for work. I am created to enjoy God and to have fun, laugh, play and delight in the joy of being alive. Delight in the unexpected, let the joy of God fill you through the wonderful experiences that unfold.
- Begin in freedom and untethered. What do we need freedom from? As I thought about last Saturday I realized how easily I could have spent the day fretting about the things I couldn’t do. I could have lived in the guilt of not doing what I originally planned. I would have been frustrated and miserable. My frustrations would have created walls that stopped me enjoying the rich experience God had planned for me and the prayer above would not have bubbled up inside.
Unfortunately as I look out after a week of snow and with the promise of more on the way, I am very aware that it is not fun for everyone. This important article tore at my heart. Not only have people suffered the hardship of lost work hours and electricity, but for vulnerable kids the loss of school lunches means the loss of their one nutritious meal for the day. Being untethered however enables me to reflect on this and reach out to help those with this unexpected burden.
What Is Your Response?
Think about your own day. What would happen if you started with a “not to do” rather than a “to do” list? What might you end up doing? Who might you end up helping? How could you discover the freedom of being untethered and of reimagining your day and yourself as a child of God, made to enjoy the God of all creation and delight in the things that delights God’s heart.
Lord help us to live untethered lives, not restricted by our preconceived ideas of what we should do each day. Open our eyes to see the freshness of each new day and the opportunities for unexpected delights to emerge.
Each year, I post prayers from some of my favourite saints ancient and modern throughout the season of Lent. I will continue to do that but thought that some would like to have access to these prayers in one easy step so that you can plan your own use of them during the season.
Today, I came across this Lenten devotional that has excerpts on several of Mary Oliver’s poems that relate to Lent. It is well worth a read and some reflection.
- Lenten Prayers by St Augustine of Hippo
- Do It Anyway – A Lenten Prayer by Mother Teresa
- Prayers for Creation by John Birch
- Prayers from Teresa of Avila for Lent
- A Lenten Prayer by Thomas A Kempis
- Christ Has Walked this Path – Lenten Video by Jeff Johnson
- Morning and Evening Prayers for Lent
- Fall In Love – A Prayer for Lent by Father Pedro Arrupe
- The Lord’s Prayer – An Adaptation
- Prayers for Lent by Desmond Tutu
- I Cannot Do This Alone – A Lenten Prayer by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- Thomas Merton’s Most Famous Prayer – A Good Prayer for Lent
- I Choose To Breathe in the Breath of Christ – A Prayer by Joseph Tetlow
- A Prayer fo Lent by Cesar Chavez
- A Lenten Prayer for Creation
- Columba’s Prayer – Helping Me Through Lent
- The Prayer of St Brendan
- Brigit’s Feast – My Favourite Celtic Prayer
- God of the Ashes – Black Liturgies
Please check out our complete list of Godspace resources for Lent through Holy Week
Last year, we started the Lenten Season on Valentine’s Day. Thankfully this year we have a few more weeks to prepare ourselves and consider what we’d like to do, or not do during the season of preparation. Here are a couple of ideas and resources you can use to prepare your heart for the season of Lent.
CHANGE JAR: Not everyone likes, or celebrates Valentines Day. So a few years ago, I came up with the idea to change Valentines Day! You start by finding a Jar with a lid. Take the jar and collect your spare change (coins) between now and Easter. It will be a few weeks longer than Lent this year because we don’t start that until March 6th. If you do this as a family, decide where you’d like to give your change in order to make a change! It could be to your favorite charity in your neighborhood. It could be to a friend in need, or to a missions organization. You choose! That is putting love into action ! It’s a post Valentines day everyone can participate in ! And it doesn’t involve the calories of chocolate!
40 Days Toward Love Prayer Kit : this is a prayer kit that Kara Root and I created last year for Lent. It is a downloadable kit involving praying with Prayer Hearts. This kit can be used by individuals, families, small groups and entire church congregations. You print out the prayer hearts and use one a day to pray with during the season of Lent. In the kit you will also find ways to use the prayer hearts as prayer stations and activities to take action in your community to live out love. Find out more at freerangeworship.com.
Finally, one of my very favorite devotions for Lent is the Lenten Hobo Honeymoon. What if instead of a “sack cloth and ashes Lent,” we went on a honeymoon with Jesus? Father Ed Hays invites us to fall in love with Jesus over the 40 days of Lent.
I will be posting more resources in the weeks ahead. Let’s all consider moving towards love this Lent!
As part of my preparation for Lent each year, I write a prayer for Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Over the last couple of years, I have preferred to revisit and reflect on prayers from previous years which I have collected here. It seems a little ironic that in 2018 I posted this on Valentine’s Day because Ash Wednesday coincided with Valentines Day and Easter with April fools Day, giving us the theme: For love of the world God did foolish things so it really does make it appropriate.
I am also broadening my own perspectives by reading liturgies and prayers from Cole Author Riley who hosts black liturgies on instagram, twitter and Facebook and am also being enriched once more by reading Howard Thurman’s Meditations of the Heart which I will start reading on Ash Wednesday.
I also think that this Black Lives Matter communion liturgy is a powerful one to use for Ash Wednesday
I have updated the links to previous prayers and added more links to other inspirational prayers that you might like to check out.
- In 2022, I introduced a couple ideas for art practices including using this ash paint recipe.
- In 2021, I wrote a Meditation Monday on the ritual of burning a mask I used and Carol Dixon offered this prayer and hymn
- In 2020, I wrote this prayer for Ash Wednesday.
- A few from from 2019 include this Ash Wednesday prayer and another for 2019.
- My 2018 Ash Wednesday prayer was inspired by an earlier prayer I wrote.
- View my 2017 Ash Wednesday prayer which reflects on the idea of burnt ashes.
- Here is a link to my 2016 Ash Wednesday prayer.
- The 2015 Ash Wednesday prayer was adapted from Isaiah 58 – one of my favourite scriptures to meditate on at this season.
I suggest that after you read through the prayer, you then read the scripture Isaiah 58:5-12 in The Voice translation, and then again in the New Living Translation, and finally in The Message. Spend time thinking about the implications of these verses for your life and how God might challenge you to live them out during the season of Lent.
My prayer for Ash Wednesday 2014 comes out of my own deep desire to be transformed and to see something new of God’s image emerge in my life.
You might also like to check out some of the prayers from previous years.
This prayer was adapted by Odyssey ministries in the following video. Putting prayers like this to music with photos is a practice that I find very faith building. Perhaps it is a practice you would like to enter into during this Lenten season.
- Another prayer for Ash Wednesday 2012
- Ash Wednesday Prayer 2011
- Ash Wednesday Prayer 2010
And our Lenten meditation video from 2012 below:
The featured music: “O Redemptor” from the CD “Prayers of St. Brendan” by Jeff Johnson
© 2011 Ark Records Used with permission. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Other inspirational Ash Wednesday Prayers
- Prayerlist.com has a great collection of prayers for Ash Wednesday
- Global Christian Worship gives a huge list meditations, devotionals, and prayers as well as songs for Ash Wednesday
- Faith and Worship has a great Ash Wednesday Liturgy
- Church Marketing Sucks shares from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer while looking at Lent and Social Media.
- From the United Methodist Church another Ash Wednesday Prayer
- Resources from Textweek.com are always worth revisiting.
- From Catholics Online links to a rich array of Ash Wednesday prayers
- An Ash Wednesday Collect from Bosco Peters in New Zealand
- Prayer + Possibilities offers an Ash Wednesday Prayer and Reflection
- Large list of Ash Wednesday Prayers from Catholic Online
- A Beautiful Prayer for Ash Wednesday provided by Crosswalk.com
- Journey with Jesus shares the “Marked by Ashes” poem by Walter Brueggeman
- I enjoyed this interesting reflection on the contrast between Lent and Carnival
You may also like to listen to T.S. Eliot read the first part of his famous Ash Wednesday poem and reflect on what he says. Or read the entire poem and commentary.
Please check out our complete list of Godspace resources for Lent through Holy Week
I couldn’t resist just one more poem for Valentine’s Day. This one was commissioned by the Daily Telegraph in the UK some years ago. It is the prize winning poet Wendy Cope.
Our love is old and sure, not new and frantic.
You know I’m yours and I know you are mine.
And saying that has made me feel romantic,
My dearest love, my darling valentine.
Have a happy love filled Valentine’s Day.
Celebrating Lent with kids is a passion with so many people and this list keeps expanding. I have tried to provide a number of activities and devotional suggestions from a variety of theological perspectives. If you know of “must have” additions please let me know. You might also like to check out my Pinterest Board Lent and Easter for Kids. I update this regularly throughout the year as I come across new resources that look interesting.
This is another updated list that I am reposting as so many are looking for resources and often miss the Godspace resource page where you can find all of our resources for Lent, Holy Week and Easter, including a number of free downloadable.
Enjoy!
Celebrating Lent With Kids
- Praying in Color has several Lenten calendar templates available for free download this year — fun to do for both adults and kids.
- Holy Week Ideas for Families, Kids and Small Groups from Lilly Lewin
- I love these ideas for kids and adults to “Love Yourself Through Lent” and “Together @ Lent” from Together @ Home – Easter Resources for 2021.
- Five Ways to Foster Creativity in Kids During Lent
- From Living Montessori Now – An extensive and very helpful list of resources
- Homegrown Catholic has a huge list of interesting activities for Lent and Easter.
- Catholic Icing has a range of activities for kids.
- Katie Warner provides Lent Resources for the whole family.
- Explore and Express has some beautiful ideas including a nature garden.
- Check out these Easter Traditions from Around the World for some new ideas to incorporate into your Easter traditions.
- Children’s Ministry has a variety of suggestions for Holy Week.
- Engraving a Tin Foil Cross – A Great activity for kids and adults.
- Making a Tiffany Style Cross
- April Fiet has put together a great children’s sermon Making a Paper cross to teach Good Friday to children.
- I like this design for making a Stained Glass Cross that would make a great children’s activity
- Feels Like Home offers a Lamb of God craft suitable for preschoolers or older kids.
- Or try a sand craft for Lent.
- A resource I used a couple of years ago: Wild Lent: Discovering God Through Creation
Making Easter Eggs
I am not usually a fan of Easter egg hunts which I often think move the emphasis of Easter from Christ to chocolates and sweets. However, I do think that the making of eggs can be a wonderful way to explain the Easter story to kids. Here are some possibilities
- Learn Pysanky the ancient Eastern European art of egg decorating.
- Make Resurrection eggs
- Make your own chocolate eggs with fair trade chocolate.
- For more ideas check out my Pinterest Lent and Easter for Kids
And some great videos to look at:
Dig Deep For Lent: – In some ways this is an advert for CAFOD but I love the idea of encouraging kids to think about other kids who lack resources and what they could do to help.
This cartoon version is interesting and would probably hold kids attention.
Please check out our complete list of Godspace resources for Lent through Holy Week
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