Lent

1504 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Importance of Lent

All About Lent

Q: What is Lent?

A:Historically, Lent is the forty day period before Easter, excluding Sundays, it began on Ash Wednesday and ended on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter Sunday). In recent years, this has been modified so that it now ends with evening Mass on Holy Thursday, to prepare the way for Triduum.

Q: Why are Sundays excluded from the reckoning of the forty days?

A: Because Sunday is the day on which Christ arose, making it an inappropriate day to fast and mourn our sins. On Sunday we must celebrate Christ's resurrection for our salvation. It is Friday on which we commemorate his death for our sins. The Sundays of the year are days of celebration and the Fridays of the year are days of penance.

Q: Why are the forty days called Lent?

A: They are called Lent because that is the Old English word for spring, the season of the year during which they fall. This is something unique to English. In almost all other languages its name is a derivative of the Latin term Quadragesima, or "the forty days."

Q: Why is Lent forty days long?

A: Because forty days is a traditional number of discipline, devotion, and preparation in the Bible. Thus Moses stayed on the Mountain of God forty days Jesus spent forty days in wilderness praying and fasting (Matthew 4:2).

Since Lent if a period of prayer and fasting, it is fitting for Christians to imitate their Lord with a forty day period. Christ used a forty day period of prayer and fasting to prepare for his ministry, which culminated in his death and resurrection, and thus it is fitting for Christians to imitate him with a forty day period of prayer and fasting to prepare for the celebration of his ministry's climax, Good Friday (the day of the crucifixion) and Easter Sunday (the day of the resurrection).

Thus the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

"'For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sinning' [Heb 4:15]. By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert." (CCC 540).

Q: When does Lent begin?

A: Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which is the day on which they faithful have their foreheads signed with ashes in the form of a Cross (see piece on Ash Wednesday).

Show More
Related

  • Spreading Christian Knowledge: J.P. Moreland

    2331 Words  | 5 Pages

    Grodi, M. C. (2010). St. Paul on Seasons of Devotion and Fasting. Catholic Answer, 24(2), 38.

    Read More

  • Simplarities Between the Feedings Reported by Matthew and Mark

    1499 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the Synoptic gospels the event follows the death of John the Baptist and the return of the disciples from preaching and teaching. Mark6:39 writes, ‘the people sat on the green grass,’ suggesting spring-time, possibly April. John does not mention either event; John6:4, ‘the Passover was near.’ Passover, an important C1st Jewish feast, although not a family meal it involved going to the Temple and offering sacrifices. Therefore, the disciples would have returned, expecting to accompany Jesus to Jerusalem. ‘After this,’ John6:1, a Johannine term used to indicate passage of time.

    Read More

  • The Meaning of Sabbath According to Mark's Gospel

    579 Words  | 2 Pages

    shows that they also thought of the Sabbath as a day of rest so they

    Read More

  • Baptism

    1855 Words  | 4 Pages

    (From the Greek expository dictionary)- ?It is used in the NT in Luke 11:38 of washing oneself (as in 2Kings 5:14, ?dipped himself,? Sept.); see also Isa. 21:4, lit., ?lawlessness overwhelms me.? In the early chapters of the four Gospels and in Acts 1:5; 11:16; 19:4, it is used of the rite performed by John the Baptist who called upon the people to repent that they might receive remission of sins. Those who obeyed came ?confessing their sins,? thus acknowledging their unfitness to be in the Messiah?s coming kingdom. Distinct from this is the ?baptism? enjoined by Christ, Matt. 28:19, a ?baptism? to be undergone by believers, thus witnessing to their identification with Him in death, burial, and resurrection (e.g. Acts 19:5; Rom. 6:3-4; 1Cor. 1:13-17, 12:13; Gal. 3:27; Col 2:12). The phrase in Matt. 28:19, ?baptizing them into the Name? (RV; cf. Acts 8:16), would indicate that the ?baptized? person was closely bound to, or became property of, the one in whose name he was ?baptized.?

    Read More

  • Fasting and The Eucharist: Catholic Participation in the Sacrifice of Christ

    3262 Words  | 7 Pages

    17 Dugan, Kathleen M. “Fasting For Life: The Place of Fasting in the Christian Tradition.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion. Vol. 63 Issue 3 (Fall 1995): 547

    Read More

  • Roman Mythology Essay

    808 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... preparation of the celebration of Jesus’ birth and his second coming. This leads all the way up to Christmas Eve, and ends with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Then, Lent occurs: the preparation time that the believer takes to reflect upon their religious practices and values. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, and ends on Holy Thursday. Holy Thursday marks the beginning of the Easter Triduum. The Easter Triduum includes: Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday. The significance of the Easter Triduum is honoring: The Last Supper, death, burial, and resurrection. After the Triduum, Pentecost follows; during this time we honor the descent of the Holy Spirit, which is known as the Ascension of Jesus. After the Ascension of Jesus, we enter Ordinary Time. This Liturgical Season is followed closely by Catholics, this is a prime example of living out their faith.

    Read More

  • Christianity

    1432 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fasting is a part of the Jewish tradition. Fasting was instituted in Biblical times as a sign of morning, or when...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper

    565 Words  | 2 Pages

    There, Christ gave specific instructions to his disciples as to how to eat and drink in the futures as a remembrance to him. This was the first celebration of the Eucharist. "The Last Supper" precisely illustrates the seconds after Christ informs everyone that one disciple would betray him before sunrise. The twelve disciples all responded to this information with different levels of horror, anger and shock.

    Read More

  • The Holy Bible is Fact, Not Fiction

    1379 Words  | 3 Pages

    For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

    Read More

  • Jesus Essay

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... day marks the day of Jesus’ resurrection where he came back to life and went to heaven.

    Read More

  • The Passover And The Last Supper

    1499 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Jewish tradition of the Passover has been very important for the welfare and freedom of the Jews since the Old Testament. Each part of the Passover brings forth the knowledge of what God promises to his people. “The name “Passover” is derived from the Hebrew word Pesach which is based on the root “pass over” and refers to the fact that G-d “passed over” the houses of the Jews when he was slaying the firstborn of Egypt during the last of the ten plagues.” The Christian belief is that the Last Supper fulfills the promise made to the Jews through Jesus Christ. The Passover and the Last Supper are important in understanding the relationship between the Jewish belief and Christian belief. They are also important to help grasp what it means to be free with a God.

    Read More

  • Moses And The Ten Commandments In The Bible

    1282 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the month of “Nissan”, or the month in which Passover is to occur, on the tenth day each person must take a lamb from his or her home. They have to keep it until the fourteenth of that month and then must eat it in a hurry because it is the Passover Sacrifice. Then once they do that they must eat bread for seven days than on the next day they have to clear out yeast from their houses. Although today religions don’t exactly practice it in this way. For instance, Christians we experience Passover every spring, where we are essentially suppose to pray and fast for forty days.

    Read More

  • Religion: The Schism Of The Catholic Church

    1489 Words  | 3 Pages

    To first understand indulgences, one should first understand Catholic moral philosophy. Unlike the protestant belief in forgiveness through prayer and pure faith, Catholics observe a tradition which requires them to confess their grave sins to a certain church authority to receive God’s forgiveness. Confession is incredibly crucial to practicing Catholics, as an unconfessed grave sin is believed to qualify one for eternal damnation. As an example of an outlook on sin, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a piece of German artwork ca. 1497-1498 that displays a scene of the biblical description of the end of the world. The purpose of this was to remind everyone that the end of the world, and therefore the judgement of all souls, is near and to invoke fear of sin and evil so that one’s soul will not perish in Hell. However, in sixteenth century Europe, the policy on receiving forgiveness changed for Catholics. In detail, Instructions for Selling Indulgences by Albrecht of Brandenburg states that one who confesses is to respect the need for Church funds by telling how much of what they own but could go without to facilitate contributions in the future. The intended audience for this writing was confessors who would sell the indulgences. Indulgences were sold to collect money for the Church, an economic gain with a religious cause. The sale of indulgences is

    Read More

  • Women in the Qur'an

    2881 Words  | 6 Pages

    From: The Cow [2.184] For a certain number of days; but whoever among you is sick or on a journey, then (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days; and those who are not able to do it may effect a redemption by feeding a poor man; so whoever does good spontaneously it is better for him; and that you fast is better for you if you know.

    Read More

  • Easter Holiday and Traditions

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lent may be preceded by a carnival season. Detailed pageants close this season on Shrove Tuesday, the day before the beginning of Lent. This day is also called by its French name, Mardi Gras. The name Easter comes from Eostre (pronounced yo'ster), an ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess. In pagan times, an annual spring festival was held in her honor.

    Read More

More about Lent

Open Document