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An Ash Wednesday Retreat

The Rev Dr Sarah Mitchell suggests the following for an Ash Wednesday retreat:

1.  Explaining the "Putting Aside of the Alleluias and Glorias"

During Lent, we don’t sing Alleluia or Gloria
Reasons for this process

a. to give space for self-examination / fasting / repentance / reconciliation / prayer

b. experiencing fully, living intentionally through both darkness and light and not the smudgy twilight

c. living within the time pattern/cycle ritual of life

d. to fully celebrate Resurrection when it happens

2. A final Alleluia/Gloria Indulgence

a. Play Hallelujah chorus on CD

b. Hand out sheets of paper with words/music of some of the alleluias and glorias we often sing

c. Invite participants to decorate the pages with words and images, as they think of all the alleluia experiences in their lives

d. We sing some of our favourite alleluias and glorias as we decorate the pages

3. Practical Putting Aside of Alleluias and Glorias

a. While we sing, bring forward sheets and place in the “Alleluia Box” (a purple cardboard box)

b. Once a person puts their alleluias and glorias in the box, they stop singing

c. Box will be closed and kept in the chapel until Easter, at which time it will be opened and the alleluias will spill out (musically - we sing them; and literally - we toss them in the air so that they are scattered over the sanctuary and when people come forward to receive communion later in the service, they walk through the alleluias).