We are entering Lent, a time of ‘repentance’, which is a translation of the Greek word metanoia, meaning a change of heart. The purpose of Lent is to prepare our hearts for the great celebration of our redemption at Easter. As the poem below conveys, Lent can be a time of test and trial, and yet we can glean much encouragement from the Carmelite saints as the link below points out. It is with a focus on Jesus - on his life, death and resurrection - that we derive a sense of renewal and strength.

https://carmelitenuns.uk/carmelite-reflections-for-lent/

Here we offer a poem on Lent by Gerard Manley Hopkins entitled 'I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day'

'I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day'

I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day. What hours, O what black hours we have spent This night! what sights you, heart, saw; ways you went! And more must, in yet longer light’s delay. With witness I speak this. But where I say Hours I mean years, mean life. And my lament Is cries countless, cries like dead letters sent To dearest him that lives alas! away. I am gall, I am heartburn. God’s most deep decree Bitter would have me taste: my taste was me; Bones built in me, flesh filled, blood brimmed the curse. Selfyeast of spirit a dull dough sours. I see The lost are like this, and their scourge to be As I am mine, their sweating selves; but worse.

Gerard Manley Hopkins