Lenten Music... from singer Mary Fiedler

I find Lenten music inspiring and enjoyable to sing.  As singers, we are able to read the words and sing them to music, and almost all of the Lenten music with which I am familiar is lovely, both in words and in music.  


Lent is a particular time of the Christian year in which we are able to think about what we might do better, and during the eight years in which I cared for my parents, I came to really appreciate the ability to sing, as an adjunct to the spoken Confession of Faith (I prefer, as usual, Rite I, because I love the language), and to get myself into a state of mind that was helpful to me as a caregiver.  I'm not perfect - and perhaps much less so than some of my fellows, and I know it, and the period of Lent, painful though it might be, prepares me for Easter and the Resurrection of our Lord.  It's a reminder that thoughtfulness and sacrifice come before joy.

When I sing, I'm not alone, and I'm not just in the company of my fellow singers, but in the company of all those who have sung this music before, and put the words so carefully to music.  My voice swells to be singing with them. 

"To decline from sin, and incline to mercy: That we may walk with a perfect heart."
Mary Fiedler