Page:Book of common prayer (TEC, 1979).pdf/265

 season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy  Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful  were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to  the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set  forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all  Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self&#8209;examination and repentance;  by prayer, fasting, and self&#8209;denial; and by reading and  meditating on God’s holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now  kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.