We cannot be in church daily, but it is still possible for us to follow the Church's progress in Lent by reading those lessons and books which the Church reads in her worship. A chapter of the Book of Genesis, some passages from Proverbs and Isaiah do not take much time, and yet they help us in understanding the spirit of Lent and its various dimensions. It is also good to read a few Psalms--in connection with prayer or separately. Nowhere else can we find such concentration of true repentance, of thirst for communion with God, of desire to permeate the whole of life with religion. Finally, a religious book: Lives of the Saints, History of the Church, Orthodox Spirituality, etc. is a "must" while we are in Lent. It takes us from our daily life to a higher level of interests, it feeds us with ideas and facts which are usually absent from our "practical" and "efficient" world. 4. Change of Life And, last but not least: there must be an effort and a decision to =slow down= our life, to put in as much quiet, silence, contemplation, meditation. Radio, TV, newspapers, social gatherings--all these things, however excellent and profitable in themselves, must be cut down to a real minimum. Not because they are bad, but because we have something =more important= to do, and it is impossible to do without a change of life, without some degree of =concentration= and discipline. Lent is the time when we =re-evaluate= our life in the light of our faith, and this requires a very real effort and discipline. Christ says that a =narrow path= leads to the kingdom of God and we must make our life as narrow as possible. At first the natural and selfish man in us revolts against these limitations. He wants his usual "easy life" with all its pleasures and relaxations. But once we have tasted of such spiritual effort, once we have made by it one step towards God, the reward is great! We discover a joy that cannot be compared to any other joy. We discover the reality of the spiritual world in us. We begin to understand what St. Paul meant by "the joy and peace in the Holy Spirit." =God Himself enters our soul=: and it is this wonderful coming that constitutes the ultimate end of Lent: "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him." (John 14:23) Let us make =this= Lent a real Lent! * * * * * For a fuller treatment of the meaning of Lent, cf. the book =GREAT LENT=, also written by Rev. Alexander Schmemann. * * * * * FOOTNOTES [Footnote 1: Cf. =Holy Week=, by Alexander Schmemann] [Footnote 2: For a guide to the reading of the Bible, cf. =Reading the Bible=, by Rev. Thomas Hopko.] LENTEN PAMPHLETS