1st Sunday of Lent - Year A - Parce Domine (Spare Us, O Lord)

Last Wednesday we began the season of Lent which is our preparation for the Easter celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. It is a time in imitation of Jesus spending forty days in the desert.

In this Sunday’s Gospel (Mt. 4:1-11), Jesus fasted in the desert and overcame the Evil one’s temptations. Jesus himself never sinned but in the desert he was tempted, and during these forty days of Lent we remember Jesus as we try to overcome various temptations in our lives and to overcome sinfulness. Hence as we pray in the Our Father, deliver us – spare us O Lord from every evil and truly grant us peace in our day.

In honour of the Lenten season, we would like to share our latest video, "Parce Domine", a Catholic antiphon sung, especially during the Lenten season. Derived from the text of Joel 2:17, this chant is a Lenten lament that is also one of the responsories designated to be sung by the choir during the imposition of the ashes on Ash Wednesday.

Joel 2:17 - "Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, “Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

Video can be watched by clicking here or on the picture below:

Wishing everyone a reflective and prayerful weekend.

God bless.