CLEAN MONDAY

By John Santosuosso

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin.

Psalm 51:2

It took me several major attitude adjustments to finally grasp what Lent is and why we need it. The churches I attended in my pre-Episcopal life observed Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday. That was about it, and that was fine with me. Then one day came my first Ash Wednesday. Oh my! Here comes Joel with a plague of locusts (Joel 1:4) Scholars are divided on whether he means real locusts or an invading army. That does not help much. These "Episcopals" are out to either starve me to death or shoot my belly full of arrows. Then there is that well-meaning couple in the grocery store who gently and quietly want to remind me I forgot to wash my face.

Now I am deeply ashamed of this, but when a good Episcopalian and friend politely asked me what I was giving up for Lent, on one occasion I snapped back and said, "liver!". Well, at least that was one Lenten vow I have faithfully kept. I also really prefer "taking on" something rather than "giving up" something, but as I said I have come to deeply repent of my lack of civility on that occasion.

However, gradually "liturgical exposure" began to take its toll, and dimly at first, but surely, I began to see that maybe there was something to this Lenten thing after all. Maybe it was the Great Litany. That ancient prayer began to penetrate and stir something in my soul that had not stirred before. It is a haunting, beautiful prayer that covers more perils than a Homeowners Insurance policy, and certainly costs a lot less. Maybe it prodded me into seeing that all was not quite right.

That liver thing had really gotten to me, and admittedly there was an element of curiosity as well. So when my church offered sacramental private confession I decided to give it a try, despite the fact that those of us who had been raised to be proper Protestants do not engage in this sort of behavior. It was not difficult at all to dredge up enough guilt from the corners of my soul to go to confession. I was absolved of my sins and received a penance. My penance turned out to be a treasured reward. I was "sentenced" to read a selection of Psalms every day for a week, and I faithfully did. Little had I realized how much I had forgotten. Here were words so beautiful they had the power to lift one up and get a glimpse of the heavens.

And gradually I began to see what Lent truly is. It is not a time when we encounter an angry god salivating, but one where we stop for rest and repairs. Who are we? Where do we want to go? How do I get rid of all this junk I have been carrying around for no real reason at all. Can I leave it at the altar? Will my battle scars fade? Will my soul be cleansed? Wrestling with these issues is what a Holy Lent is intended to be.

Well, maybe everybody needs a soul cleansing from time to time. We are so busy doing what we think we have to do that we cease being what our Lord intended us to be. Not too long ago I discovered that most Eastern Orthodox Churches do not observe Ash Wednesday. Instead they observe Clean Monday. I will not discuss the differences in the way that East and West determine the date of Easter. It can get very complicated, and it is not very interesting. On the rare occasions when East and West observe Ash Wednesday on the same day, Clean Monday comes two days earlier. 

Clean Monday really begins with a service on Sunday evening known as Forgiveness Vespers. Those participating ask each other for forgiveness so they can begin the Clean Monday observance with the proper approach.

The Clean Monday mass is focused on the spirit of Isaiah 1:1-20. It is far less a service of morning and repentance and much more one of cleaning and repair. If one fasts that day, the call is to do it in the spirit of Matthew 6:14-21, doing it with a scrubbed face and the appearance of normality. So begins the period leading up to Holy Week known as Great Lent.

There is a certain amount of fasting on Clean Monday and throughout Great Lent, but the entire time is done more in the spirit of spring. Life begins anew. Our Lord will wash us. Those dark, hidden corners of our essence are cleaned and refreshed. We can go forward once more.

Maybe this Lenten season you would like to join me in a modest observance of Clean Monday. What more appropriate way could there be to do this than to make a gift to St. Peter's Laundry Love ministry? The amount is your decision alone, but the intention is one we share. If there is no Laundry Love ministry where you are, maybe you might make a gift to a food bank, shelter, or other ministry that helps the poor. The intent will be the same. We cannot change the entire world, but we can shine a healing light into some of its darkest corners.

Have a Holy Lent. Have a Clean Monday. 

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and put a new and right spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence,

 and do not take your holy spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

 and sustain in me a willing spirit.

Psalm 51:10-12