“O God, who hast given unto Thy blessed Apostle Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and the power to bind and loose: grant that we may be delivered, through the help of this intercession, from the slavery of all our sins: Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.” When the ashes of Lent are announced and the forty days of passion commences, the tide of Holy St. Peter is set in motion. The divine gaze is covered with violet cloth and all grace is hidden – as is the acts and actions of man. These forty days represent the days the anointed one spent in the desert, where he was tempted forsake his destined station. The forty days in the wilderness is the days of ashes and dust, a proverbial tide of gloom and adversity where man is left to face his own trials and tribulations and polish his own mirror and see how it reflects the divine on the day of resurrection. Lent start a period that culminates with Holy Friday, the day of the Lord’s death, where for one night the divi...