So it Begins...

Today is Forgiveness Sunday, the last day before the start of Great Lent. This is the last day to eat dairy until Pascha (Easter) on April 24, the day to put one's house in order before the trials of the Fast. We participate in a service called Forgiveness Vespers, where we ask one another's forgiveness not only for past wrongs, to start the work of the soul with a fresh start. In our family, we ask forgiveness of one another every evening as part of our evening prayers.




I always find it is a day to take a breath and wait with anticipation for the weeks ahead. Lent is a struggle, to be sure, but it is one I anticipate and look forward to every year. There is something about the excesses of the winter holiday season that makes one long for the privations and soul- searching of Lent. It is a quiet time of year for us, with many extra services, penitential melodies and texts, prostrations, and the realization that one must cling to the grace of God to get through this life. It is a time to work out one's salvation with fear and trembling always keeping the coming joy of the Resurrection in the background.



I wish you all a blessed Lent and beg your forgiveness for all wherein I have offended in thought, word, deed, and in all my feelings.

(Today's card is CASEd from my fellow Philly Inker, Kristin Kortonick, who in turn modified a card from Ilina Crouse. I loved it so much I had to make it right away. Thanks for all the inspiration, ladies!)

Supplies:
Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Springtime Vintage dp
Easter Blossoms stamp set
Vanilla rosettes (colored with a marker)
Pretty in Pink, Marina Mist, Early Espresso markers, Crumb Cake, Pear Pizazz ink pads
Pear Pizazz seam binding ribbon
sticky strip
glue dot
large and scallop oval punches
dimensionals