LENT AT ST. AUGUSTINE’S 2025

Here in Chicago, we know winter. We endure weeks of below-zero temperatures, slush through snow and mud, and look out on the barren trees and a half-frozen lake. Yet even now, at the end of a bitter February, though we may not perceive it, nature is coming back to life. How do living things know it’s time to wake up? One of the key signals is light: as the days get longer and longer, many creatures sense that spring is coming, and begin to rise again. That’s where the word “Lent” comes from: an old English word for “lengthen,” referring to the longer days. 40 days for waking up and getting ready for Easter, a festival of new life celebrating Jesus’ resurrection and the new world that’s on the way. How will you wake up this Lent? What parts of your spirit are stirring? Where is God calling you to find new life and resurrection?

Here are a few ways in which we can wake up and find renewal as a community during this season: 

Sunday Worship

We make changes in our liturgy in Lent: different vestments, bare branches instead of flowers, and glass and earthen vessels instead of gold and brass. No organ music or alleluias; more time for silence. On the first Sunday of Lent, we will chant a version of the Great Litany in the opening procession—asking for God’s mercy and help in our desire to draw closer to God.

Coming Back to Life Devotional

Pick up Salt Project’s Lenten Coming Back to Life Devotional to deepen your Lenten practice at home. The booklet is full of ideas and activities that can help us wake up, along with all God’s creatures, preparing our hearts, minds, and communities for Easter’s big celebration. Each week, the devotions draw from the Book of Scripture and the Book of Creation (nature itself) to inspire practices to try yourself and with your family or friends.

Grab your booklet at Shrove Tuesday or in Puhlman Hall beginning on March 5.

From Famine to Fullness: Journey with Naomi and Ruth 

Shannon Page will lead a four-week Bible Study on the Book of Ruth. Join in a close reading of this short story that centers on women finding new life through migration, survival, and mutual care. Charlotte Long, a migrant housing specialist and researcher in Chicago, will also join for a session to help situate the Biblical story within the context of migrants’ experiences today.

There are two ways to participate: virtually on Zoom (pw: lacroix) on Tuesday nights at 7:30 p.m. (and stay on Zoom for Tuesday night Compline!) or in-person at St. Augustine’s on Wednesdays at noon.

The same content will be available in both sessions, but we hope that making a fully virtual option available makes an intimate small group experience available to those unable to join in-person.

The Tuesday sessions will be: 3/11, 3/18, 4/1, and 4/8

The Wednesday sessions will be: 3/12, 3/19, 4/2, and 4/9

Please register for the Tuesday session here or for the Wednesday session here by March 9.

Waking Up to Migrants’ Experiences: Guest Preacher and Adult Forum on April 6

Charlotte Long, a migrant housing specialist who researches faith-based approaches to migrant care and support, will be the guest preacher during the 9:30 a.m. service and lead an adult forum during coffee hour. We hope this is a chance to stretch our theological imaginations and converse about the ways God is calling us to care for the stranger in our midst.

Renewing as Community: Bishop Clark’s Visit on March 30

St. A’s will welcome our Bishop, The Rt. Rev. Paula Clark, as preacher and presider on Sunday morning, March 30! This will be a true “mini Easter” in our season of Lent when we bring back the organ and white vestments, and include the opportunity for Baptism, as well as for the sacramental rites of Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation. Learn more about these rites here.

We’re continually coming back to life in our Christian journey. These rites make space for the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, renewing us and equipping us to live out our baptismal vows in the world.

St. A’s Book Group on March 6 and April 3

Deepen your perspectives on the Christian life with St. A’s monthly book group. You are invited to read If God is Love Don’t Be a Jerk by John Pavlovitz for March and A Quilted Life: Reflections of a Sharecropper’s Daughter by Catherine Meeks for April. All are welcome to attend the discussion (7:15 p.m. in Puhlman Hall or on Zoom - pw: lacroix).