- Lent Is a 40 day
Christian festival beginning Ash Wednesday and concluding on Easter
(Sundays are not counted)
- The word "Lent"
comes from the old Anglo-Saxon word lengten, which means
"springtime," named so for the time of the year in which it occurs.
- What we now call
Lent was originally a period of fasting and study for catechumens who were
to be baptized on the Saturday before Easter. The 40 day fast was said by
Athanasius in 339 AD to be celebrated the world over. The 40 day fast of
Jesus in the wilderness was responsible for the number 40 being chosen.
- The purpose of this
extended fast was to practice self-denial and humility. This was to
prepare oneself for receiving God's grace and forgiveness in baptism,
given on Easter Saturday or Easter Sunday.
- The liturgical
color for Lent is purple, the color of repentance and sorrow for sin.
- Lent prepares us
for the observance of Jesus Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection
for us. It is a season of repentance and sorrow for sin. Lent is a time of
self-examination in light of the Ten Commandments; it is a time of giving
up of sinful behavior, a time of personal housecleaning. It is a time of
commitment to the new life of Christ begun in baptism. It is a time of
disciplined study of Scripture and a time of growing in faith. In recent
years Lent has become a time to remember our baptisms. It is a time to
reflect on the impact of baptism on our lives, and to ask ourselves how we
are doing. Most of all, it is a time of renewal and new beginnings, as we
through faith apply the complete forgiveness won by Christ's death to our
lives. Lent heightens our awareness that we desperately need Jesus Christ.
- As someone has
said: "Lent is the Church's springtime. Out of the darkness of sin's
winter emerges a people the Church--reborn through baptism into their
Lord's death and resurrection from the grave."
- Lent is an
opportunity not an obligation. It is not commanded by our Lord, nor is it
even mentioned in the Bible. Those Christians who observe it do so because
they find it a helpful opportunity for repentance and renewal, for the
strengthening of their faith. Christians are free to observe or not
observe Lent.
- The beginning of
what we call "Ash Wednesday," is difficult to date with certainty, though
it probably began around 600 A.D.
- Ashes are applied
to the forehead of Christians in the sign of the cross (throughout the
Middle Ages ashes were sprinkled on the head) as a symbol of humility and
repentance. The ashes are a reminder that we are "dust and to dust you
shall return" (Genesis 3:19).
Thus, they are a reminder of our mortality cursed as it is by sin.
Moreover, the ashes remind us of our limits, of what we are, and how
greatly we need God's mercy in Christ.
|