Lent

Traditionally, Lent is observed for 40 weekdays, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.

Lent is a period of maximizing the resurrection flame, and it is typically a period of prayer, penance, and fasting. Many people in the Christian churches throughout the world, including Eastern Orthodox churches, have celebrations of fasting and prayer during Lent. It is considered a time of sacrifice, walking that period with Jesus Christ, preparing for the crucifixion. And so it is the mortification of the flesh so that the spirit can be newborn in the great springtide of the resurrection flame.

Lady Master Portia has said:

Every lifestream on earth has need for renewal in the tide of the resurrection that comes with the spring equinox. Every soul aspiring to Christhood needs to relive the Passion of the Lord Jesus and to make a sacrifice for him in the weeks preceding the celebration of the crucifixion and the resurrection. I therefore recommend that all Keepers of the Flame fast either one or two or three days ... sometime during the weeks preceding the Easter weekend. This sacrifice will be for the surrender of certain substances in your four lower bodies] that impede the flow of light through your chakras as blessing to the earth. It will also be a surrender of certain of the appetites which register in the desire body as well as in the mental and physical bodies.

Celebrating Lent

It is necessary that we make a sacrifice of a portion of the self during the advent of the passion of Jesus Christ, celebrated each year. For centuries, Christians have set aside Lent for this purpose, and it has been common practice to give up something for Lent.

Fasting is a very good way to give something up because much flows from you when you fast. Most importantly, what is removed from you when you fast are not only the physical poisons, but also the mental, emotional and subconscious poisons which are anchored in your being through physical toxins and impurities.

If you decide to fast during Lent, try pressure-cooked brown rice and bancha tea. Rice focuses the perfect balance of Alpha and Omega, the yin and the yang, the plus and the minus. Fasting on rice will assist you in balancing these energies in the body.

Although the brown-rice fast is entirely optional, it is recommended as a sustaining fast by which you can observe Lent and also receive healthful benefits. You may wish to fast one to three days and then eat cooked vegetables and other grains (barley, as spring approaches) for a day or two, or a week. In addition, if you would like to give up something for Lent, the Messenger suggests that you abstain from red meat and sweets.

You may also wish to write a confession letter that you then consecrate and burn. Remember to call upon the law of forgiveness and give violet flame decrees for the transmutation of all karma and transgressions of God’s laws.

As you prepare for Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection at Easter, you can also use the Ashram Rituals booklet to give “Easter Meditation Ritual for Activating the Resurrection Spirit in All Hearts” from Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday. You can also give decree 40.09, “Djwal Kul’s breathing exercise,” as your Lenten offering.

Sources

Elizabeth Clare Prophet, March 4, 1979.

Holy Days Calendar, February 1994.

Pearls of Wisdom, vol. 35, no. 6, February 9, 1992.

Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Fire from Heaven: The New Age of the Holy Spirit, chapter 7.