Lent

Lent is a barren time of the year, in the fields, and in the home. I'm glad we have Carnival to remember, and full bellies for a day or two, because starting with Ash Wednesday there will be little enough--no bacon, eggs, cheese. It will be porridge and broth for us most days now until Easter, though a little salted herring from the market now and then will help us through.

In Lent, even the church is dreary. They covered up our Lord on the cross with a purple cloth and there won't be any music at all, no weddings, nothing to bring any joy to us. When we get to Holy Week, there will be Maundy Thursday with its special mass and then Good Friday. That is the day we remember how Jesus died to pay for all our sins. They will take the cloths off the cross again and wash down the altar. Then everyone in the church will get down on their knees and crawl up to the cross and kiss it. We do that to show that we are truly sorry for our sins and that he had to suffer for them. It is a way to thank Jesus for dying for us and show that we want to share in his suffering.

The spring ploughing is over and William and Gilbert are busy getting the first seed into the ground. There is not much time for church these days anyway. Ho! Parson is luck to see us at all except for the great feasts, there is so much to be done, trying to work the abbot's land as well as our own. But for Easter and the days of Holy Week, we have to take the time to go to mass. Parson says we won't go to Heaven if we stay away at Easter! So go we do.

First Sowing of the Spring

By Lent, if the danger of frost was over, it was time for the first sowing. The spring grains such as barley and oats were sown by throwing the seeds out by hand from a straw basket, or sometimes from an apron or pouch, carefully so as not to be wasteful. A child or some other helper would chase away the birds as the see was being sown or the crop would be much reduced.