Again We Keep This Solemn Fast

Again we keep this solemn fast
A gift of faith from ages past,
This Lent which bids us lovingly
To faith and hope and charity.

The law and prophets from of old
In figured ways this Lent foretold,
Which Christ, all ages’ Lord and Guide,
In these last days has sanctified.

More sparing, therefore, let us make
The words we speak, the food we take,
Our sleep, our laughter, ev’ry sense;
Learn peace through holy penitence.

Let us avoid each harmful way
That lures the careless mind astray;
By watchful prayer our spirits free
From scheming of the Enemy.

We pray, O blessed Three in One,
Our God while endless ages run,
That this, our Lent of forty days,
May bring us growth and give you praise.

Text: Ex more docti mystico; ascribed to Gregory the Great, c. 540–604, tr. Peter J. Scagnelli (b. 1949)
Tune: ERHALT UNS HERR, Klug’s Geistliche Lieder, 1543