Dear People of God: 

The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection,
and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a 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‑examination and
repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self‑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.

                               (The Invitation to Lent from the Book of Common Prayer)