Purple - the Colour of Royalty

Introducing the Colour Purple

The season of Lent draws near to us and for the next few weeks we’ll travel together in this sensory space in a time of reflection about what it means to each of us to be a follower of Jesus and how we can grow and strengthen our faith. Lent is a time of simplifying our lifestyles and slowing down to allow time and space for this reflection.

Traditionally Lent is a solemn time where followers of Jesus spend the 40 days (plus Sundays) until Good Friday, practicing the spiritual disciplines of prayer, repentance, self-denial, giving to others and fasting. This year Lent begins on the 2nd March (Ash Wednesday) and ends on Thursday 14th April (Maundy Thursday).  Over the next seven weeks we’re weaving our series together with the colour purple. Purple is the traditional church colour for Lent.  It’s a sign of royalty and of something rare and precious. Purple is hard to define and hard to make. It’s a bit mysterious and it can be polarising. People perceive the colour differently and appreciate it differently. Purple is rare in nature. It’s a colour of shadows, observed in the half light of the early morning or late evening. Purple is also a colour of protest and causes, of drawing attention and taking notice, of joyous awakening.

Photo by Vonecia Carswell on Unsplash

Our prayers will use the colour purple and in doing so, engage our visual sense. We’ll engage other senses as we go along too, and I invite you to join me in this exploration and reflection both with the prayers offered here, but also with your own observations and Lenten practices this season.

Each week two prayers are offered. Both are for personal use and can be adapted to group settings, although one is written as a more suitable option for a gathering and the other as a more suitable option for personal reflection.

We begin today with Purple – the Colour of Royalty… I can’t wait to share these prayers with you and journey with you in the next few weeks.

On the journey

Caroline