The more general liturgical practices of Lent and Holy Week are assumed and taken into account, but they are not necessarily specified in connection with each of the particular services of this Lenten series. For the sake of clarity, some of these traditional practices are as follows:

• The Gloria in Excelsis is omitted from the Divine Service, even on the Sundays in Lent (though these Sundays are festivals in their own right and are not counted in the forty days of Lent). Exceptions to this omission of the Gloria in Excelsis are the festivals of St. Joseph, the Guardian of Jesus (March 19), and the Annunciation of Our Lord (March 25), as well as Holy (Maundy) Thursday.

• Traditionally the “Alleluia” is not sung from Ash Wednesday until the Easter Vigil. It is also not then proper to display paraments or banners with the word “Alleluia.”
• The Gloria Patri (the lesser Gloria) is not used during Holy Week, including the daytime services of Holy Thursday.
• Depending on local custom, the organ is not played during Lent except to accompany the singing of the congregation. Likewise, other instruments are silenced, including the ringing of bells in the service.
• Crosses throughout the church may be veiled with unbleached linen or violet cloth throughout Lent, though there are differences of opinion as to the significance of this practice and how (or if) it ought to be done. Where crosses are veiled, it is done with penitential reverence and humility, not for the sake of hiding or forgetting the cross. The intent of veiling the cross is to increase the longing of the faithful for the cross. Local circumstance and pastoral discernment will determine how best to handle such a practice. For example, the processional cross may be unveiled for the services of Holy Week, beginning with the procession of palms on Passion Sunday. The veil of the altar cross may be changed to white for the Holy Thursday Divine Service, and then the cross may be removed altogether at the stripping of the altar.
• Another local custom is the choice not to place flowers on the altar (or anywhere in the church) from Ash Wednesday until the Easter Vigil.
• In brief, there is comprehensive restraint of celebration while waiting and hungering for the Paschal Feast.
• In those congregations that use the Paschal candle, the candle remains in its place at the baptismal font and is used at Baptisms and funerals during Lent and Holy Week.

Accompanying the restraint of celebration, and serving the catechetical purpose of the Lenten season, it is well to emphasize, teach, and encourage the practice of individual confession and absolution during Lent.

It is recommended that during Lent the so-called “declaration of grace” (the right-hand column in the settings of the Divine Service, as for example on p. 167 of Lutheran Service Book) be used in the rite of preparation instead of the indicative-active “I forgive you.” Historically, the “declaration of grace” was by far the more common practice in this context among Lutherans and is less easily confused with the absolution of individual confession (from which the indicative-active form derives).

The Annunciation of Our Lord (March 25) will occasionally fall on a Sunday in Lent. While normally a feast day of Christ (sometimes called a ‘first-rank’ festival) would displace the ‘ordinary’ Sunday celebration, the traditional rule is that no feast may displace a Sunday in Lent. Should March 25 fall on a Sunday in Lent, the Annunciation is not omitted, but transferred to the next available day. The reason the Annunciation does not take precedence in this case is that the Sundays in Lent are also feast days of the first rank. In addition, if the Annunciation falls at any time during Holy Week, it is transferred to the first available day after the Easter Octave.

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and sets the tone of the season. It is a pointed call to repentance, which is to say that it is a return to the death and resurrection of Holy Baptism by way of confession and faith in the forgiveness of sins. Thus the imposition of ashes, from which the day receives its name, recalls both the mortality of sinful man and the redemption of Christ into which His followers have been baptized. This context of contrition and repentance, fully and firmly centered in the cross and resurrection of Christ Jesus, is the framework within which the Lenten fast is undertaken. A focus on Christ’s Passion will not be chiefly an emotional or intellectual exercise, though the Word and Spirit of God engage both the intellect and the emotions. Rather, in faith the Passion is approached as the very heart of the Gospel, which the Lord our Savior has accomplished for us and now bestows on us with His Means of Grace.

There is a liturgical connection between Ash Wednesday and Holy (Maundy) Thursday. The penitential discipline begun on this day is resolved in the Lord’s cleansing of His disciples, and the fasting of repentance is ended with the Lord’s feeding of His disciples in Holy Communion. Of course, this cleansing and feeding occur also on Ash Wednesday and throughout Lent, but they come into special focus on Holy Thursday at the beginning of the Paschal Triduum. On a seasonal level, one may think of the relationship between Ash Wednesday and Holy Thursday as following the rhythmic pattern of each Divine Service: a liturgical progression from contrition and confession, through the catechesis of the Word, to the feasting of the Lord’s Supper.

Ideally, the imposition of ashes may be done in the morning of Ash Wednesday, so that the entire day is spent in penitential contemplation of our sin and mortality in view of God’s grace and forgiveness. The rite is best administered in connection with confession and absolution, lest the penitent simply be turned upon himself. If it is unreasonable to suppose that many members of the congregation will be able to avail themselves of such an opportunity in the morning, the imposition of ashes and corporate confession may be repeated in the late afternoon or early evening, prior to the Divine Service allowing for a period of reflection and confession between the two ceremonies.

The color of the day is violet (or black). The pastor(s) may prefer to wear cassock and surplice for the imposition of ashes and the Service of Corporate Confession and Absolution, but alb (and chasuble) is appropriate for the Divine Service.

• Due to the solemn character of the day, pre-service music and a hymn of invocation are omitted.
• If the imposition of ashes and the Service of Corporate Confession and Absolution take place in the morning or at a time significantly prior to the Divine Service, the pastor(s) and congregation leave in silence. If the Divine Service follows these two orders within a short period of time or immediately, a period of silence should be allowed before proceeding with the Entrance Hymn. The pastor(s) may use this time to change from cassock and surplice to alb. The celebrant of the Divine Service may also be vested in a chasuble at this point.
• The Gloria in Excelsis is omitted from the Divine Service.
• Depending on local custom and circumstances, the closing hymn may be omitted.

Holy Thursday

Holy Thursday marks a transition within Holy Week from Lent to the Holy Triduum. In this it serves as something of a bookend to Ash Wednesday at the beginning of Lent. The historic Gospel for this day (John 13) recounts the washing of the disciples’ feet by our Lord. Although this is an example of Christian love for the neighbor, the foot washing is first and foremost a demonstration of the Lord’s enduring love for His own and a depiction of our return to the significance of Holy Baptism through contrition and repentance, confession and faith in the forgiveness of sins. The penitential discipline of Lent has brought us to this point, and Christ Jesus, our Savior, loves us to the end. The dust and ashes of sin and death are washed away by Jesus’ word of Holy Absolution, and the One who humbles Himself, even to death, in order to serve us in love with His own holy body and precious blood, exalts those who have been humbled by the Law.

Although Holy Thursday is a culmination and completion of Lent, it is also the beginning of the Paschal Feast, which remembers with thanksgiving the sacrificial death and great salvation of the Lamb of God. Holy Thursday is the first of three sacred days that together constitute the Church’s celebration of both the cross and the resurrection of the Lord. Jesus Christ is the true Passover Lamb, who is sacrificed for us, whose blood covers us from death, whose body feeds us for life and salvation in the freedom of the Gospel; yet He is the same Lord God who by His mighty, outstretched arms brings us out of slavery, through the water and the wilderness, into the promised land, and He feeds us on the way.

One note on the title for the day. Lutheran Service Book calls the day Holy Thursday, and this is the common name for the day in most of world Christendom. It has, however, been called Maundy Thursday for many years in various Lutheran churches. There is no clear history behind the word, though it is most likely from the words of our Lord, “A new commandment (mandate) I give to you, that you love one another” (John 13:34). Less likely is from the words of our Lord at the Last Supper, “do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24).

With its rich and varied emphases, there are different ways and means of observing Holy Thursday. It may be best to consider the day incrementally. Thus the congregation may gather in the morning for The Litany and for Corporate Confession and Absolution, both in culmination of the Lenten fast and in expectation of the evening Feast.

If it is unlikely that many members of the congregation will be able to participate in such a morning service, the same opportunity may be provided in the late afternoon or early evening, but still prior to and distinct from the Divine Service. If this option were used, the evening Divine Service would begin with the Introit.

Prior to sundown, the color of Holy Thursday is appropriately the scarlet of Passion Sunday (or the violet of Lent). This fits the penitential character of The Litany and of corporate confession.

After sundown, the color of the day at an evening Divine Service is preferably white. For this reason, also, there should be a clear separation of the penitential rites and services from the evening feast. Although Holy Thursday may be observed with a more penitential emphasis, it rightly bears a festive mood. Although the Alleluia continues to be omitted and now during Holy Week the Gloria Patri is omitted, traditionally the Gloria in Excelsis is sung on this occasion. Typically, the Holy Thursday service is marked by restrained exuberance throughout the Divine Service, until the stripping of the altar concludes this portion of the Triduum with a distinct turning toward the solemn depths of Good Friday. Holy Thursday looks ahead to both the Passion and the resurrection, and so looks to the Lord’s cross as the very tree of life from which our Savior feeds us.

• The suggested Rite of Preparation may be observed in the morning or late afternoon.
• The Litany in the Rite of Preparation is from Lutheran Service Book.
• The collect in the Rite of Preparation is the Collect of the Day for Ash Wednesday.
• If the optional Rite of Preparation is observed separately from the Divine Service, the pastor(s) and congregation leave in silence.
• If a Service of Confession and Absolution or the optional Rite of Preparation is followed immediately by the Divine Service, a pause is appropriate, and the color of the day should be changed to white before the Divine Service begins.
• During the stripping of the altar, Psalm 22 is chanted or spoken. For further details on the stripping of the altar, see pages 506–7 of Lutheran Service Book: Altar Book.
• The Benediction is not given until the conclusion of the Triduum at the Easter Vigil.

Good Friday

Good Friday stands at the heart and center of the Triduum even as Christ’s death on the cross, which it commemorates and celebrates, stands at the heart and center of the Christian faith and life. The service of this day is marked by the Church’s deepest humility and most solemn reverence, for she gives her attention to the cross and Passion of her dear Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Her sorrow and contrition do not give way to despair, however; nor does she mourn the death of Christ. Rather, in repentant faith the Church gives thanks for Christ’s atoning sacrifice and lays hold of His redemption in the hearing of His Gospel (and in the eating and drinking of His body and blood).

Although the Chief Service of Good Friday is appropriately held between the hours of noon and 3 p.m., nevertheless it may be held whenever the majority of the congregation will be able to attend.

The rites and ceremonies of the Good Friday service are profound and powerful and invite deliberate care, calm, and an unhurried approach that allows for a quietly eloquent proclamation of the Passion of the Christ. It is easy to overdo the drama of the day and of the service with theatrical effort, but careful study of the notes and rubrics of the service will help to maintain the appropriate focus.

The color of the day is black, though the altar remains bare (other than for the vessels of the Lord’s Supper, at that point in the service when the Sacrament of the Altar may be celebrated). For the bulk of the service, the pastor(s) may be vested in cassock and surplice; the preacher may wear a stole (preferably black) for the sermon.

• The congregation stands for the concluding portions of the Reading of the Passion, beginning with John 19:16b–24 (Jesus’ crucifixion), and continues to stand through the final stanza of the hymn.
• As the Church remembers with thanksgiving the suffering and death of her Lord and Savior for the redemption and reconciliation of the world, it is particularly fitting that she should pray and intercede for the entire world in His name. The Bidding Prayer does this most beautifully and profoundly, identifying all sorts of particular conditions and needs. Such prayer is not historically unique to Good Friday, but was typical of the Church’s prayer from its earliest days. Because the most solemn occasions also tend to be the most conservative in form and practice, the Bidding Prayer has been retained as part of the venerable character of Good Friday.
• If possible, the congregation may kneel for the Bidding Prayer, and the presiding pastor may kneel before the altar (at or near a rough-hewn cross, if this is part of local custom and practice).
• The rite associated with the adoration of the cross can be found on page 517 of Lutheran Service Book: Altar Book. There are two options associated with this rite. If the rough-hewn cross is carried in procession and placed in the chancel at this point in the service, the sentence “Behold, the life-giving cross on which was hung the salvation of the world” and its response are sung or spoken at three points in the procession. If the cross is already in position at or near the altar, the sentence and response are sung three times, pausing after each for adoration of the cross. The cross is not adored as though it were a relic or a magic talisman, but as a sacred sign of the Lord’s redemption (similar to standing for the Holy Gospel).
• There are differences of opinion as to whether the Sacrament of the Altar should be celebrated on Good Friday, and no definitive answer may be dictated. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox faiths distribute Holy Communion on this day from elements consecrated on Holy Thursday and reserved intentionally for this purpose. Lutherans should be reluctant to follow such a practice, yet they do also recognize the appropriateness and benefits of receiving the body and blood of Christ on this day as the very fruits of His holy cross.
• A satisfying and salutary way of celebrating the Sacrament of the Altar on Good Friday is suggested on pages 512, 522–24 of Lutheran Service Book: Altar Book. The Communion linens, vessels, and elements are brought to the altar and the celebrant is vested in alb (and chasuble) during the hymn “Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious Battle.” The Service of the Sacrament is marked by a reverent simplicity, spoken rather than sung. The Sanctus and the Agnus Dei are not sung; however, hymns of the Passion may be sung during the distribution. The Communion vessels and linens are removed from the altar during the singing of the service’s concluding hymn.
• The Benediction is not given until the conclusion of the Triduum at the Easter Vigil.

Easter Vigil

The Great Vigil of Easter, kept on the Eve of the Resurrection of Our Lord, is the culmination of the Holy Triduum. It brings to a festive completion the three-day service that began on Holy Thursday and continued on Good Friday. In itself, the Easter Vigil is a transitional service. In much the same way that Holy Thursday was both the conclusion of Lent and the beginning of the Triduum, so the Easter Vigil both completes the Triduum and ushers in the Fifty Days of Eastertide. This transition is poignantly manifested in the course of the vigil, which progresses purposefully from darkness to light. It celebrates specifically the passage of Christ from death into life, and the Church’s passage through death into life with Him through Holy Baptism. The night begins with hushed anticipation, proceeds with eager expectation, and finally climaxes in the exuberant celebration of the Paschal Feast.

The Easter Vigil is very much a Christian “Passover,” that is, a celebration of the great exodus that Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God, accomplished by His sacrificial death and brought to light in His resurrection from the dead. All that the Lord God did for Israel in bringing His people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land He has perfectly fulfilled for all the baptized, who are the new Israel, in His cross and resurrection. In Holy Baptism we have come out of Egypt and have crossed the Red Sea with Him, and have entered with Him into Canaan through the Jordan. In the Paschal Feast of Holy Communion, we eat and drink the true Passover Lamb. His blood covers us and protects us from sin, death, and hell; His body feeds and sustains us on our way. (Pless)

In particular, the Easter Vigil proclaims and confesses that as we have died with Christ by our Baptism into His death, so do we also rise with Him and live with Him in newness of life. It is for us that He died and rose from the dead. The Vigil lays hold of that sure and certain hope in the Gospel, or, better, the Vigil lays hold of us and brings us with Christ out of death into His life. It does so not by any sort of magic, but by the Word and Spirit of God.

With its rites, ceremonies, and propers, the vigil itself catechizes pastors and their congregations in the paschal mystery celebrated on this night. The most important preparation, therefore, is for service participants to study carefully and rehearse the notes and rubrics of the Easter Vigil. When all is well prepared and the service can proceed according to its proper rhythm, the Word of God in the readings and prayers of the Easter Vigil will do its own work among the people of God.

The Easter Vigil is presented in six parts: the Service of Light, the Service of Readings, the Service of Holy Baptism, the Service of Prayer, the Service of the Word, and the Service of the Sacrament. Each part has its own integrity and contributes to the progression of the whole. The Service of Light, in which the paschal candle is consecrated for use and lighted as a sign of the Lord’s resurrection, may take place at a bonfire outside the church building. To accentuate the continuity of this night with the Passion of our Lord, the gathering may occur where the congregation assembled for the procession with palms on Passion Sunday. After the consecration of the paschal candle, the people follow it into the church, as Israel followed the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night in the exodus from Egypt. During this procession, “The Light of Christ” (“Thanks be to God”) is chanted at three points, which may replicate the points at which the sentence “Behold, the life-giving cross” was stated during the adoration of the cross in the Good Friday service. These ceremonial associations contribute to the way in which the Easter Vigil holds together the cross and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ as the New Testament Passover.

The Service of Light crescendos in the chanting of the Exsultet (which ideally is sung rather than spoken). This beautiful proclamation of the paschal mystery sets the tone of the entire Easter Vigil, celebrating the fulfillment of the Old Testament exodus in the resurrection of the Christ. It rings out in the night, in much the same way that the candles break into the darkness with their shimmering light. There is the tension of waiting, a pregnant expectation of that which has already been accomplished but has yet to be openly announced. It is no secret that Christ has risen from the dead—no more so now than on Ash Wednesday or at any other time throughout Lent. Yet the Church on earth lives in, with, and under the cross of Christ; thus she experiences the now-and-not-yet of the resurrection in the Word of the Lord.

Although the handheld candles of the congregation should be carefully extinguished at the end of the Exsultet, the Service of Readings should proceed in semidarkness, with only as much light as necessary for the reading of the Holy Scriptures and for the prayers and canticles of the people. The Readings are the distinctive and definitive heart of the Easter Vigil. They set forth a series of Old Testament prophecies and types of the Christ, of His cross and resurrection, and of the Church’s participation in His dying and rising again. It is not expected that congregations will employ all twelve Readings, but as many of these as possible should be used. At least the first three Readings should always be used (the creation, the flood, and the exodus), and preferably the twelfth Reading (the three men in the fiery furnace). A selection of four Readings is given here, along with congregational responses in the form of two psalms and two canticles. The congregation should sit for the Readings, kneel for the collects that follow each Reading, and stand for the psalms or canticles that are interspersed with the Readings. Because the Church waits on the Lord in steadfast faith and hope by giving attention to His Word, there is no need to hurry through the Readings. Congregations comprised largely of younger members may arrange to observe the Easter Vigil through the hours of the night, culminating in the early dawn of Easter Sunday. In such a case (presumably rare), all of the Readings would be used; each followed by its collect, the appropriate psalm or canticle, and separated with periods of silence. The Readings do not require commentary because within the context of the entire week, the collects, psalms, and canticles provide appropriate and sufficient reflection of the Word by which the Lord catechizes His people and accomplishes His purposes among them.

Whether or not there are catechumens to be baptized at the Easter Vigil, the Service of Baptism follows the Readings as a return to the death and resurrection of repentance and faith that all the baptized share with Christ by the washing of water with His Word and Spirit. Here is the crossing of the Red Sea with the One who is greater than Moses, which already anticipates the crossing of the Jordan with the New Testament Joshua (Jesus, the Christ). This returning to the significance of Holy Baptism through contrition, repentance, and faith in the forgiveness of sins is to be the daily and lifelong discipline of every Christian. It is here embraced at the very heart of the Easter Vigil, in remembrance and celebration of the cross and resurrection of Christ. It is not meant to replace the daily taking up of the cross to follow Jesus as His disciples, but it is observed in service and support of that Christian faith and life. This is the fulfillment of Lent and the rebirth of an Easter life.

The Divine Service of the Easter Vigil is somewhat simpler than the usual Sunday observance, yet it is not as full and festive as the chief Divine Service on Easter Sunday will be. The same basic movement takes place: from the Word of the Gospel to the Word made flesh in Holy Communion, received in faith and with thanksgiving. In this case, the Prayer of the Church (in the Litany of the Resurrection) precedes the basic pattern of the Word preached and the Sacrament administered, which serves to further heighten the unity of the Holy Gospel and Holy Communion.

The Service of the Word at the Easter Vigil is really as much or more a part of the entire Eucharistic rite rather than a separate component. In contrast to the deliberate and steady pacing of the Readings, the Service of the Word proceeds forward swiftly. Ideally, this would occur after night fall as there is now a striking transition from darkness to light, from the sobriety of Holy Week to the sights and sounds and celebration of the Easter feast. That is signaled by the Easter acclamation: “Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!” The altar candles are now lighted from the paschal candle, the lights in the church are turned on, bells are rung, the organ opens up in jubilation, the Gloria in Excelsis is sung, and the Lord’s altar is prepared for the Sacrament (there is no offering or offertory in the usual manner).

The proclamation of the Easter Gospel (John 20:1–18) testifies that the Jesus who died and was buried is not only no longer in the tomb, but has been raised bodily from the dead. The preaching of this Gospel should be straightforward and direct, brief and to the point. All of Holy Week and the entire Easter Vigil have been an extended proclamation and catechesis of the Word, the Law and the Gospel, to repentant faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore it is neither necessary nor desirable to have a lengthy sermon at this point.

The Service of the Sacrament will follow according to one of the usual settings of the Divine Service, beginning with the Preface. Here it is suggested that Setting Four continued to be used as it has throughout this Lenten series. While other settings may surely be preferred in some congregations, Setting Five should not be chosen for use at the Easter Vigil. Note the special Post-Communion Collect appointed for the Easter Vigil.

The color of the day at the Easter Vigil is white and/or gold. However, the church should be kept in semidarkness until the Service of the Word, at which point there is a transition to all the trappings of Easter, as previously indicated. Depending on the circumstances, the altar may be dressed and adorned with the appropriate paraments, Easter flowers, and other accoutrements at this point in the service. The logistics for such a transition require planning and rehearsal to avoid awkwardness or uncertainty. Similarly, the celebrant and his assistant(s) may prefer to be vested in cassock and surplice, but at this point they would vest in alb (and chasuble for the celebrant) for the Service of the Word and Sacrament.

.

At our Lord’s baptism we stood in the waters of the Jordan and witnessed the gracious God who hears his peoples cry for mercy. We watched the heaven’s split open, and heard him announce, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Mk. 1:11) We spent the following weeks hearing from the Lord what it means that God declared Jesus to be the Son-we have witnessed miracles, healings and exorcisms. Then last Sunday on Transfiguration, we stood on the mountain with Peter, James and John Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him”.

“Hear Him,” for He knows what is best for you. “Hear Him,” for He is the one who is driven to save you from your sins.

Only the Messiah could-restore our sinful nature, and recreate the world as God’s good creation. It would not happen easily. It would be violent-Satan would attack God’s Son-and He would suffer and be killed in the most gruesome manner. Our Epiphany readings revealed to us who this Messiah is. Mark records the miracles and deeds of Christ to help establish his power and authority. Now in Lent, we again turn to the inspired holy writers to witness what this Messiah would have to do to complete the Father’s plan of salvation. We have ringside seats for the battle between Jesus and the Devil, between Good and the Forces of Evil.

This battle was not to be fought like we would have it fought. It is not fought with staff and banner held high, with the words of a strong hymn in our throats. NO! Instead of a triumphant forceful march out of the Jordan immediately after God’s announcement at Jesus’ baptism, He was driven into the wilderness to suffer temptation at the hands of Satan for forty days. He was driven by the Spirit to do this. Jesus baptism is one of suffering and of death because in the waters He stands as one of us, and He stands for us taking our sin upon him. What we deserved, He received.

Notice how quickly Mark moves from Baptism to temptation. So too, it was this way at your baptism. when you were baptized, your life became a battleground between God and Satan. Satan will not be satisfied to simply let you go. He’s not going to just say, “Ok, God, you won that one. I’ll go on to someone else.” No, Satan will battle for your soul now more than ever! Satan will use any trick, any scheme that He can to get you to deny who you are as a baptized child of God.God knows this, and so He sent Jesus to receive all the assaults and crafts of the devil in your place.

The Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil, for that is God’s work. God sends down his Son into the world as a mighty warrior — not to inflict suffering, but to receive it as the Suffering Servant. Our guilt and sin can not be defeated with show and bravado, but only with Jesus taking on the sin of the world, with His life, His death, and His glorious resurrection from the dead.

How we look at Jesus’ baptism and temptation really frames for us our understanding of the Christian faith, and our own understanding of temptation. Why was Jesus tempted by the devil for forty days in the wilderness? In many ways it is easy for us to look at that temptation as kind of a big object lesson. I can almost hear it: if we just act more like Jesus, then our lives will go well, and everything will be perfect. Right? Wrong!

In the accounts of St. Luke and St. Matthew we see a little bit more of how Satan tempted Jesus. The temptations always centered on trying to get Jesus to deny his mission to God’s people, to deny his purpose of saving the world from sin. Jesus is hungry, and so Satan temps Him to make bread from a rock, and thus save himself. The devil promises “authority” and “glory” to Jesus, just like he tempted Adam and Eve. In the third temptation the devil tempts Jesus to worship him, and not the Lord. But these details of Jesus temptation come to us from other Gospel writers.

The very simplicity and brevity of St. Mark’s telling of the temptation of Jesus indicates that there is a different intention for is account. He does not provide a description of the various specific temptations, nor of Jesus’ response, such as St. Matthew and St. Luke provide. That description is sometimes misconstrued as nothing more than a good example or instruction for us: a legalistic, “What Would Jesus Do?” approach to the Christian life. But instead, St. Mark records only the fact that Jesus was tempted. And because this Jesus was and is the Son of God in the flesh, His confrontation with Satan was decisive for us-not as an example for us to emulate and follow, but rather as His Victory on our behalf, in our stead, for our sake.

Only Christ can defeat Satan and triumph over temptation, sin, and death. And all of this He does (and has done) for you and for me-what we could never do for ourselves. Where Adam failed, Jesus succeeded. Where we fail daily, Jesus wins. If you think of it though, Jesus’ temptation is really a playbill for our own Christian life.

How are you tempted? Satan tempts us in many ways. The temptations may come from obvious places: we can easily point to the vices so readily offered by the world we live in; we can see and maybe even avoid too much liquor, or too much food, or any of a dozen excesses the world so frequently lays before us.

But the temptation may also come from the not so obvious places. Have you ever been tempted to put yourself before the needs of family and friends? Have you ever been tempted to put family or friends before Christ and the Church? Sometimes the most innocent of temptations are the ones that are the most dangerous. As the words of the hymnist wrote:

I walk in danger all the way,

The thought shall never leave me-
That Satan, who has marked his prey,
Is plotting to deceive me.
This foe with hidden snares,
May seize me unawares->
If I should fail to watch and pray.

I walk in danger all the way. (LW 391, v. 1)

It is important to note and understand the way in which Jesus obtains His victory over Satan for us. It is not by a crushing show of strength, but by submitting Himself to temptation, save only without sin. And in our place, He lives as we must live — as we ought to have lived, but have not: by the Spirit of God, by faith in His Father. He faithfully entrusts Himself entirely to the Word and providence of God.

It is no coincidence that this temptation follows immediately after the Baptism of Jesus, when God the Father declared Him to be His beloved Son and the Spirit descended visibly upon Him. Indeed, the Spirit drives Him directly from the waters of His Baptism into the wilderness, in order to be tempted by the devil. It is part of that blessed exchange, of which I have often preached, whereby Jesus assumes our place under the Law, and He undergoes and endures all that we must face as poor, miserable sinners, in order that what He achieves and obtains may be for us. He is tempted just as we are, so that His victory over temptation may become our victory; just as His Cross & Resurrection become our forgiveness and life.

Now, then, as those who are baptized into Christ Jesus, who have been given to share His sonship and His life, we are likewise assaulted by the temptations of Satan, who is all the more desperate to lure us away from God and away from our faith and life in Christ.

Satan will use anything and everything within his power to get us to fall away from faith -and turn toward him. I sometimes think that we don’t realize how hard Satan is working against us. We Lutherans often talk about the Real Presence of Christ in the bread and wine of Communion. How often do we acknowledge the real presence of Satan in our lives, trying to tear us away from the life that God has given us in our baptism?

The most dangerous, dire, and basic temptation of all is to doubt and reject the Word (and works) of God, and to focus on yourself (and your works) instead of God in Christ. That is perhaps obvious in the case of God’s Word of the Law . . . but it is likewise so in the case of His Gospel:

Where God has declared unto you that you are forgiven, and that you are His beloved child, you are tempted to look at yourself, your circumstances, your sin, or whatever else in yourself, and to conclude that God could never really love you, nor forgive you, and that you are not His dear child in Christ.

Because God speaks and acts through me as your Pastor, you might conclude that His Word to you-including His forgiveness of your sin-is merely my word and my opinion, and that the real situation between you and God is still up for grabs-something to be worked out in your own heart).

Whether such attitudes and conclusions lead you to pride or despair-the twin ditches into which a Christian falls-either way, you have fallen into the dangerous sin of doubting what is in fact God’s Word. Pride says that you have kept His Law (even though you haven’t!), and it presumes that you don’t need the Gospel that He speaks to you through me. Despair says that, because you have not kept His Law, then the Gospel that He speaks to you through me is unable to help you and set things right.

Again, either way of looking at things is a fall into sin, and at the same time a turning away from your only help and hope in Christ Jesus.

Perhaps we should take this temptation thing a little more seriously than we do. If the power of Satan is so great that it took the Son of God to defeat him, then perhaps we should look at little closer at the life God has given us, and see how often Satan tries to tear us away from the faith.

It is the Word of God-to you and concerning you-from first to last, that determines who and what you are and where you stand. That reality is utterly contradicted by the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh, all of which insist that “truth” is relative, that it’s all in the eye of the beholder, that it’s really up to you to decide for yourself what’s what, and that what’s true for one person may not be true for another-and, that, ultimately, it doesn’t matter.

But, oh, yes, it does matter. And it isn’t up to you (thank God!). It is determined by the Word of God-alone-period. It is accomplished for you by Christ Jesus, the Son of God, on your behalf. It is given to you in and through Christ Jesus, by His Ministry of the Holy Gospel-Word and Sacraments. The devil, the world, and your flesh have nothing to say about it, and nothing to do with it: nothing that matters or changes anything. Who and what you are and where you stand is who and what and where God says you are.

When you were baptized, you were baptized into a life of suffering, where Jesus and Satan battle for your life. Satan comes to you tempting you constantly to forget what you have received in your baptism, tempting you to turn away, tempting you to reach for the things of this world at the expense of the riches of Christ in the world to come, tempting you to well, if not embrace it than just dabble in the sin and death that surrounds us.

This is the mystery of baptism. In your baptism you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God (Col. 2) hidden in Jesus’ baptism, which was one of suffering and of death. At your baptism you were saved from sin, death, and the power of the devil. But at Jesus baptism, He was given over to sin, death, and the power of the devil.

That gives us the key to how to look at Jesus temptation. For you. He was tempted for you, fulfilling the Law where you have failed. That is the totality of Christ’s work. He was obedient, because we rebel. He suffered for us, because we sinned. He died, so that you would have life.

And what is the tool that Jesus’ used to defeat the powers of hell? The Word of God. With every attack that Satan made against Jesus, He responds with the truth of God’s Word. The battle between God and Satan, between God’s Church and the forces of the Devil continues. And after all this time no better defense, no better weapon has ever been needed. The Word of God; heard, preached, read, eaten and drunk. The Word of God-it is what gives you the power to overcome temptation in your life; as Luther wrote in the hymn: “One little word can fell him.”

Jesus’ temptation is the first skirmish of the battle waged against Satan. Because Jesus was tempted, and prevailed, we have the confidence and sure hope that He will never desert us in our time of need.

As St. Paul wrote the Christians in Rome:

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died-more than that, who was raised to life -is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Lord’s Word is your mighty fortress, your shield and strength against all the assaults and temptations of the devil. It guards and protects you, and as often as you have fallen prey to sin, it lifts you up again (and again) with forgiveness. Here is your life and your salvation forever in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

“In speaking of Lent it is difficult to avoid the word “fasting,” which is misunderstood and regarded with disfavor by many. Yet it cannot be ignored or disregarded, for both the historic Epistle (Joel 2:12-19) and the Gospel (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21) for Ash Wednesday speak of it, and Luther’s Small Catechism brings us face to face with the term (Sacrament of the Altar: Who receives this sacrament worthily?). Surely it is to be preferred to “keeping Lent.” For practical purposes fasting may be defined as the avoidance of anything that could interfere with, distract from, or disturb in the preparations for the new life with the risen Christ. This may call for a restriction in diet as excessive eating or drinking may cause dullness and apathy which are far from conducive to a searching self-examination and to resolute spiritual life. On the other hand, should the one who has determined to fast in such a way confine his dietary limitations to Lent and return to his old habits when at Easter he rises with Christ to a new life?

“A number of questions arise also regarding the fad of “keeping Lent.” Does such “keeper” of Lent smoke so heavily,” drink so heavily, consume excessive amounts of recreation, or work such lengthy hours, “that his or her indulgence interferes with the preparations for the new life in Christ? If so, is he or she to resume his or her excess when at Easter the new life begins? The same applies to” any of the excessive habits or our lives. “Whatever is done, or not done, in observance of Lent has value and purpose only if it serves to prepare and train for the newness of life, for the new life to be entered at Easter with the risen Christ.

“Lent is a time in which God’s people prepare with joy for the paschal feast (Easter). It is a time in which God renews His people’s zeal in faith and life. It is a time in which we pray that we may be given the fullness of grace that belongs to the children of God” (The Sermon and the Propers:Volume II, 45-46),

Dear Lord Jesus Christ, it is with humble and contrite hearts that we enter this day the holy season of Lent to meditate on Your bitter suffering and death that you, the innocent Lamb of God, endured for us. With deep sorrow we confess that also our sins, which justly anger God and call for our punishment. were the cause of Your suffering and dying. God chose to spare us by laying upon you the iniquity of us all.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Be gracious to us.
Spare us, good Lord. Amen.

So, long story short: February 25th, move your bookmark from the back of Treasury to page 24 in the front. And then carry on.

(There is another Lesser Skip that happens at the conclusion of the Season after Easter, but well remind you about that in June.)

Easter celebrates the chief event in the life of Christ. It was the earliest and major celebration among early Christians. Given that Easter is both a movable date and also a principal celebration of the Church Year, the date of Easter determines much of the rest of the Church Year. Generally speaking, Easter is observed on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox. The date of Easter will influence the date of Ash Wednesday, the fortieth day (not counting Sundays) before Easter; the date of the Transfiguration, the Sunday before Ash Wednesday; and the number of Sundays in Epiphany and after Pentecost.

Lent

The resurrection of Jesus is our great salvation. To prepare to celebrate the feast of the Resurrection (Easter), the Church sets aside a period of preparation. In AD 325, the Council of Nicaea recorded the first reference to the specific number of days for Lent: forty. This forty-day preparation was first prescribed for baptismal candidates and became known as Lent (from the Old English word for “spring”). During this period, the candidates were examined in preparation for Baptism at the Easter (or Paschal) Vigil. Later, these forty days were associated with Jesus’ forty days in the desert prior to His temptation. The forty day period is is symbolic of other periods of 40 in Scripture: the forty years Moses and the children of Israel were detained from entering the Promised Land, Elijah’s forty days spent in the wilderness, Noah had rain for forty days and forty nights, the Israelites wondered forty years to the promised land, and Jonah gave the city of Nineveh forty days to repent.

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with midday prayer on Holy Saturday.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of  the observance of Lent. The name is derived from the practice of placing ashes on the forehead as a sign of penitence and a reminder of human mortality. The color for Ash Wednesday is black, while the liturgical color for Lent is violet. Lent is a season of forty days. The Sundays during this season are not counted as a part of the forty-day season; the Sundays are not “of Lent” but “in Lent.” Thus the Sundays retain an Easter tone and may be less solemn than the midweek services that congregations typically offer. The observances of Lent are concrete reminders of the greater solemnity of this season, yet Lutherans emphasize the Gospel of Christ as central even to this penitential season. The Gospel on the Sundays in Lent do not speak of Christ’s Passion, rather they prefigure the great Easter victory

The Lent Quarantine

The observation of Lent is characterized by the liturgical omission of the joyous Alleluias. After the Epistle we hear the Tract or Verse instead.  The Gloria in Excelsis also is not sung. Some congregations forbid the playing of the organ or limit its use to accompanying congregational singing, thus there are no instrumental preludes, postludes, or anthems. Though less enforced today, weddings were not to be scheduled during Lent. Another of the traditional omissions is to not place flowers in the chancel. Crucifixes and crosses are covered with opaque viels of violet or unbleached white linen. The quarantine sets the tone for the liturgy of Lent which is patient preparation and waiting for the climactic liturgies and services of Holy Week.

The Propers for Ash Wednesday
and the Sundays in Lent

Ash Wednesday

Almighty and everlasting God, You despise nothing You have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and contrite hearts that lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness we may receive from You full pardon and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (L22)

Joel 2:12-19 or Jonah 3:1-10
Psalm 51:1-13, 14-19 (v. 17)
2 Peter 1:2-11
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

First Sunday in Lent–Invocavit

O Lord God, You led Your ancient people through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land. Guide the people of Your Church that following our Savior we may walk through the wilderness of this world toward the glory of the world to come; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (L23)

Genesis 3:1-21 or 1 Samuel 17:40-51
Psalm 25:1-10 (v. 14)
2 Corinthians 6:1-10 or Hebrews 4:14-16
Matthew 4:1-11

Second Sunday in Lent–Reminiscere

O God, You see that of ourselves we have no strength. By Your mighty power defend us from all adversities that may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (L24)

Genesis 32:22-32
Psalm 121:1-8 (vv. 1-2)
1 Thessalonians 4:1-7 or Romans 5:1-5
Matthew 15:21-28

Third Sunday in Lent–Oculi

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy, be gracious to all who have gone astray from Your ways and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of Your Word; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (L25)

Exodus 8:16-24 or Jeremiah 26:1-15
Psalm 136:1-16 (v. 26)
Ephesians 5:1-9
Luke 11:14-28

Fourth Sunday in Lent–Laetare

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Your mercies are new every morning; and though we deserve only punishment, You receive us as Your children and provide for all our needs of body and soul. Grant that we may heartily acknowledge Your merciful goodness, give thanks for all Your benefits, and serve You in willing obedience; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (L26)

Exodus 16:2-21  or Isaiah 49:8-13
Psalm 132:8-18 (v. 13)
Galatians 4:21-31 or Acts 2:41-47
John 6:1-15

Fifth Sunday in Lent–Judica

Almighty God, by Your great goodness mercifully look upon Your people that we may be governed and preserved evermore in body and soul; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (L27)

Genesis 22:1-14
Psalm 43:1-3 (v. 5)
Hebrews 9:11-15
John 8:42-45, 46-59

On the last Sunday after the Epiphany, the Gospel appointed for Transfiguration shows us a glimpse of Christ’s reality, a reality seldom seen on this side of eternity. The God-Man Jesus, who in complete submission to the Father left the glory of heaven and humbled himself to be born in the flesh, blood, and bone of man; the Christ of God who, through his life, teaching, and miracles gives glory to the Father, stands before the disciples—and us—fully displayed in his own divine glory and majesty. And with him are the icons of the Law and the Prophets: Moses who was secretly buried by God at his death, and Elijah who did not die, but was taken by God into heaven. And Jesus is having a conversation with them.

It is exactly the fact that Jesus, Moses, and Elijah were having this conversation that has led to the liturgical placement of the Transfiguration as the final Gospel of Epiphany. Epiphany as a feast and as a season is about the revelation of God in Christ. First in the story of the magi from the east—signifying the revelation of the Messiah beyond the tribes and people of Israel. Then his baptism is celebrated not only marking the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, but also revealing him as the Son of God anointed for his work and blessed by the Father. The Gospels for the Sundays that follow present the revelation of God through the preaching, teaching, miracles, healing, and the announcement of the forgiveness of sins, that Jesus performed during his three-year ministry. On the mountain of the Transfiguration, not only is the full divine glory of Jesus revealed, but there is this holy conversation about Jesus’ exodus, his departure, in other words his coming suffering and death, which is the ultimate revelation of God.

This mountain-top conversation must be the continuation of the conversation of heaven: the plan of God for the salvation of man and the means by which Jesus would work out that merciful plan. The heavenly hosts—the angels and the whole community of saints—waited in eager expectation for the working-out of the timeless plan of the Father in time, but that does not mean they necessarily waited in silence. The heavenly conversation, now glimpsed at on the mountain of Transfiguration was about Jesus’ departure, the conversation was about the Passion to come, the conversation was about the awesome reality that holy justice required the ultimate payment, the conversation was most certainly about the Son of God paying the price for sin: the death of the Son as the all-sufficient sacrifice.

As much as the disciples wanted to, they could not remain on the mountain. Too soon Moses and Elijah were gone, the glory of the almighty Son was again hidden, and the glimpse of the Lord’s reality—a reality that confirmed the promise of God for a life after death—was gone. None record it, but the descent down the mountain was probably fraught with emotion, and the memory of what the disciples had seen likely sparked contemplation and conversation, and prepared them for the hard days soon to come.

We too cannot stay on the mountain of Christmas, Epiphany, and Transfiguration. Certainly the most ancient and most joyous season of the Church Year is yet to come, but between these two great liturgical mountains is the hard wilderness, the penitential valley of Lent. The Sundays of Gesimatide provide a deliberate descent during which we can contemplate both the mountaintop experience above and the coming wilderness journey below. It is an opportunity to gradually adjust to the change in altitude and the change in attitude. Septuagesima (70-some days before Easter), Sexagesima (60-some days before Easter), Quinquagesima (50-some days before Easter) are the angel-like hands of the Church Year that would keep us from dashing our feet against the stony pavement of Lent.

Septuagesima

O Lord, graciously hear the prayers of Your people that we who justly suffer the consequence of our sin may be mercifully delivered by Your goodness to the glory of Your name; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (L18)

Exodus 17:1–7
Psalm 95:1–9 (v. 6)
1 Corinthians 9:24—10:5
Matthew 20:1–16

Sexagesima

O God, the strength of all who put their trust in You, mercifully grant that by Your power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (L19)

Isaiah 55:10–13
Psalm 84 (v. 4)
2 Corinthians 11:19—12:9
Luke 8:4–15

Quinquagesima

O Lord, mercifully hear our prayers and having set us free from the bonds of our sins deliver us from every evil; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (L20)

1 Samuel 16:1–13
Psalm 89:18–29 (v. 20)
1 Corinthians 13:1–13
Luke 18:31–43

The Catholic Encyclopedia has a entry for Ember Days, but it leaves much unanswered. Actually, the conservative Catholic site, Fisheaters, has a very fine article on the origin and development of Ember Days in the Roman Church. Pulling liberally from the article on Fisheaters as well as from my essay in Treasury of Daily Prayer, we can understand Ember Days as the time set aside four times a year to focus on God through His marvelous creation: seeking God’s blessings upon the fruits of the earth and acknowledging that all food comes from Him. The three days of each Embertide were marked by fasting, prayer, and almsgiving as prescribed by the church. These quarterly periods take place around the beginnings of the four natural seasons:

Winter — Advent Embertide

Spring — Lenten Embertide

Summer — Whit Embertide

Autumn — Michaelmas Embertide.

These four times are each kept on a successive Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday and are known as “Ember Days” (supposedly a corruption from Latin, quatuor tempora = four times, corrupted to quatember, then to ember). The first of these four times comes in Winter, after the the Feast of St. Lucy; the second comes in Spring, the week after Ash Wednesday; the third comes in Summer, after Pentecost Sunday; and the last comes in Autumn, after Holy Cross Day. Their dates can be remembered by this old mnemonic:

Sant Crux, Lucia, Cineres, Charismata Dia
Ut sit in angaria quarta sequens feria.

Which for those of us who don’t think in Latin:

Holy Cross, Lucy, Ash Wednesday, Pentecost,
are when the quarter holidays follow.

The handy shortcut for remembering the holidays that herald the Ember Days is “Lucy, Ashes, Dove, and Cross.”

Well, as I said, good information at Fisheaters about the origin and development of the Ember Days in the Roman Catholic tradition.

The Ember Days comprise the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday:

following the Commemoration of St. Lucia (December 13).

of the week following the first Sunday in Lent;

of the week between Pentecost and Trinity Sunday;

following the Feast of the Holy Cross (September 14);

Then came the Reformation.

In the Church of the Reformation, the Ember days marked a season of piety especially devoted to preaching on the Catechism.

Martin Brecht writes: “In Wittenberg it appears that Pastor Bugenhagen treated the catechism four times a year. When he was in Brunswick in 1528, Luther substituted for him at the task” Martin Luther, Martin Brecht (Minneapolis:Fortress Press, 1994) II:274.

In the editor’s preface to the last of Luther’s 1528 series of sermons on the Catechism we hear Luther: “It has hitherto been our custom to teach the elements and fundamentals of Christian knowledge and life four times each year.” Luther’s Works – American Edition

The Ember Days were originally days of prayer, repentance, and fasting. After the Reformation, the Ember Days themselves became for Lutherans one of the roots of the evangelical “days of repentance” Paul Graff.

Pastor Benjamin Mayes, a colleague of mine, did a little bit of work in the German sources. Some of this was for his presentation of the Ember Days’ propers for the Brotherhood Prayer Book, some specifically to help me in the Treasury’s presentation. Pastor Mayes:

In Braunschweig 1657/1709, the Ember Days had the order of service for a day of repentance as their liturgy (I:221). Here, all four [sets of] Ember Days were expressly retained (I:228). Some areas put their days of repentance on other days, not necessarily on the Ember Days.

“The ‘repentance services’ are either simple prayer hours held on certain days of the week, or services similar to the chief service on certain high ‘days of repentance, prayer, and fasting.’ These prayer hours cannot, as already mentioned, be confused with the prayer hours already described–occurring one or several times weekly, i.e. morning and evening devotions –although they are very similar in their structure. The prayer hours in question here are in the whole more or less similar to a public festival of repentance. Hymns of repentance are often prescribed. In the prayers, one asks to be forgiven of guilt (Litany) and spared from punishment (war and other distresses, collect for peace and ‘Grant peace, we pray, in mercy, Lord’). In short: these prayer hours –whether daily, whether once or more weekly, whether monthly, such as depending on the change of the moon, whether quarterly, such as depending on the Ember Days, (also perhaps with the command to fast,) or otherwise regularly repeating–give these days a character completely their own, so that such a day becomes itself a day or prayer (day of repentance).” (I:221)

Even in the 16th cent., the Lutherans in north Germany regularly observed the Ember Days as Days of Repentance. (I:225).

[In preparing the] Brotherhood Prayer Book, I researched Roman, Anglican, and German Lutheran books. Often I didn’t find much in the way of special propers or rubrics for the Ember Days. Some of them have their own readings and collects which have the theme of the season they’re in. This is especially the case for the Lent Ember Days (after Invocavit) and the Pentecost Ember Days (during the octave of Pentecost), because those days have proper readings anyway. (Here by proper readings, I mean a distinct set of propers for office and mass.)

Here’s what the 1613 Magdeburg Cathedral Service Book has for propers on the Ember Days.

Wednesday after Advent 3: Invitatory and antiphons and responsory with an Advent theme or from the ordinary. Collect as in the Brotherhood Prayer Book. It is not marked as being an Ember Day. The readings appear to be a lectio continua. Antiphon for Magnificat: O Antiphon.
Friday after Advent 3: Same as above, except: Antiphon for Benedictus, same as Brotherhood Prayer Book text edition, p. 235. Different collect.
Saturday after Advent 3: Same as Wednesday, except: Antiphon for Benedictus: “Behold how glorious is he who goes forth to save the peoples.” Different collect.

Wednesday after Lent 1 (Invocavit) is listed as an Ember Day. Matins: Reading as in BPB, p. 255. Antiphon for Benedictus as in BPB (ant. for Magn.). Collect from Quinquagesima (which is very similar to the collect in BPB, p. 255). Vespers: Lectio continua from Gen. 44. Ant. for Magn.: “If anyone does the will of My Father, he is my brother, sister, and mother.” Collect from Sunday.
Friday after Lent 1. Not listed as Ember Day. Ant. for Ben. “Lord, I do not have a man, that when the water is moved, he may cast me into the pool.” Lectio continua. Vespers: Ant. for Magn., same as BPB, p. 255. Lectio continua. Collect from Sunday.
Saturday after Lent 1. Not listed as Ember Day. Lauds: Ant. for Ben., same as BPB (ant. for Magn.). Lectio Continua. Collect for Peace (same as in TLH Vespers). Vespers: Lectio continua. Ant. for Magn., same as at Matins.

Wednesday in the Octave of Pentecost. Not listed as Ember Day. Matins: Reading same as BPB, p. 279. Lauds: Ant. for Ben. “When the dies of Pentecost were completed, alleluia, praise came to Jerusalem, alleluia, to Zion.” Collect from Sunday. Vespers: Lectio continua. Ant. for Magn. “On the last day of the feast, Jesus said, Whoever believes in me, rivers of living water will flow from his belly, and He said this concerning the Spirit, whom there were to receive, who believe in Him, alleluia.” Different collect.

Well, that gives you a taste of what’s going on in the Magdeburg Cathedral.

Martin Chemnitz, in the Braunschweig-Wölfenbüttel KO, which is referenced above, writes:

Also, since up to the present the quatember [fasts] have been conducted in papal fashion, henceforth all pastors and preachers in the cities shall at every quatember, instead of the regular preaching, for fourteen consecutive days, take up the catechism and divide it up, that all of it may be set before the people and usefully explained throughout. And they shall also earnestly admonish the people that they, together with their children and domestic servants, be diligent in attending such useful and very necessary teaching and not be absent.

And also during the quatember mentioned the pastors [pfarner] in the villages shall be diligent, so much as the time and place permit, to very carefully explain and inform the people regarding the catechism, which is a measure of all preaching.

Taken together, this is the basis for the suggestion to treat the Ember Days as “A Day of Humiliation and Prayer” and for promoting the Ember Days as a time to give special attention to the elements and fundamentals of Christian knowledge and life found in the Catechisms. Review and meditation on the Chief Parts of Luther’s Small Catechism could be added to one’s daily devotion: Wednesday: Ten Commandments and Creed, Friday: Lord’s Prayer and Holy Baptism, Saturday: Confession and Sacrament of the Altar

The traditional themes of repentance can be used in one’s personal daily prayer in a way that is already familiar, as a Day of Supplication and Prayer. (Propers appointed for a Day of Supplication and Prayer can be found in the LSB: Altar Book, page 992.) Hymns of confession and absolution would be suitable. The appointed lectio continua readings of daily prayer is retained. In prayers, it would be fitting of the days to ask to be forgiven of guilt (cf. the Litany), to be spared from punishment (war and other distresses), and to pray the collect for peace (Vespers, LSB, 233).

In the Lutheran congregation Individual Confession and Absolution could be offered quarterly on the Saturdays of the Embertides. More challenging, but no doubt it would garner great rewards in faith and understanding, would be to reestablish the practice of Luther, Bugenhagen and others “to teach the elements and fundamentals of Christian knowledge and life four times each year.