Lent

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“Cuaresma” redirects here. For other uses, see Quaresma (disambiguation).

This article is about the observance of Lent in Western Christianity. For Lent in Orthodox Christianity, see Great Lent. For other uses, see Lent (disambiguation).

Acolytes extinguishing candles on an altar adorned in violet for Lent. Note the cross and statues are often draped in violet, and no flowers or offerings are in display. Ash Wednesday, Minnesota.

Lent celebrants carrying out a street procession during Holy Week. The violet color is often associated with penance and detachment. Similar Catholic penitential practice is seen in other countries, sometimes associated with mortification of the flesh. Granada, Nicaragua.

Lent also known as Cuaresma or Quadragesima (Latin: Forty^[1]) is the Christian observance of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday culminating to Easter Sunday.

The traditional purpose of Lent is the penitential preparation of the believer – through prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial. Its institutional purpose is heightened in the annual commemoration of Holy Week, marking the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events of the Passion of Christ on Good Friday which then culminates in Easter Sunday, marking the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

During Lenten season, some faithful observants generally commit to a form of fasting or (temporarily) give up certain types of luxury. Many Roman Catholic and some Protestant parishes often bare their altars of candles, flowers and other devotional offerings while Crucifixes, religious statues and other elaborate religious paraphernalia are often veiled in violet fabrics in pious observance of this event. Among certain pious Catholic countries, grand processions and cultural customs are observed, while the faithful attempt to visit seven churches during Holy Week in honor of Jesus Christ heading to Mount Calvary by observing the Fourteen Stations of the Cross.

According to the Synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent forty days fasting in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptation by Satan.^[2]^[3] Thus, Lent is described as being forty days long, though different denominations calculate the forty days differently. In many of the Christian churches, Lent is regarded as being forty days long, but the Sundays between Shrove Tuesday and Easter Sunday are not typically regarded as being part of Lent; thus, the date of Shrove Tuesday will typically be slightly more than forty days before Easter Sunday.

This event, along with its pious customs are observed by Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Anglicans and some Baptists.^[4]^[4]^[5]^[5] Lent is increasingly being observed by other denominations as well, even such groups that have historically ignored Lent, such as some Baptists and Mennonites^[6]

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[edit] Duration

Most followers of Western Christianity observe Lent beginning on Ash Wednesday and concluding on Holy Thursday.^[3]^[7] The six Sundays in this period are not counted because each one represents a “mini-Easter,” a celebration of Jesus’ victory over sin and death.^[2] One notable exception is the Archdiocese of Milan which follows the Ambrosian Rite and observes Lent starting on the Sunday 6 weeks before Easter.^[8]

Since the Second Vatican Council, the Roman Catholic Church has redefined Good Friday & Holy Saturday as the first two days of the Easter Triduum rather than the last two days of Lent, but Lenten observances are maintained until the Easter Vigil.

In those churches which follow the Rite of Constantinople (e.g. Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholics), the forty days of Lent are counted differently; also, the date of Pascha (Easter) is calculated differently in the East than in the West (see Computus). The fast begins on Clean Monday, and Sundays are included in the count; thus, counting uninterruptedly from Clean Monday, Great Lent ends on the fortieth consecutive day, which is the Friday before Palm Sunday. The days of Lazarus Saturday, Palm Sunday and Holy Week are considered a distinct period of fasting. For more detailed information about the Eastern Christian practice of Lent, see the article Great Lent.

Amongst Oriental Orthodox Christians, there are various local traditions regarding Lent. The Coptic, Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Churches observe eight weeks of Lent, which, with both Saturdays and Sundays exempt, has forty days of fasting.^[8] The first seven days of the fast are considered by some to be an optional time of preparation.^{[citation needed]} Others attribute these seven days to the fast of Holofernes who asked the Syrian Christians to fast for him after they requested his assistance to repel the invading pagan Persians. Joyous Saturday and the week preceding it are counted separately from the forty day fast in accordance with the Apostolic Constitutions giving an extra eight days.

[edit] Other related fasting periods

The number forty has many Biblical references: the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai with God (Exodus 24:18); the forty days and nights Elijah spent walking to Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:8); the forty days and nights God sent rain in the great flood of Noah (Genesis 7:4); the forty years the Hebrew people wandered in the desert while traveling to the Promised Land (Numbers 14:33); the forty days Jonah in his prophecy of judgment gave the city of Nineveh in which to repent (Jonah 3:4).

Jesus retreated into the wilderness, where he fasted for forty days, and was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1–2, Mark 1:12–13, Luke 4:1–2). He overcame all three of Satan’s temptations by citing scripture to the devil, at which point the devil left him, angels ministered to Jesus, and he began his ministry. Jesus further said that his disciples should fast “when the bridegroom shall be taken from them” (Matthew 9:15), a reference to his Passion. Since, presumably, the Apostles fasted as they mourned the death of Jesus, Christians have traditionally fasted during the annual commemoration of his burial.

It is the traditional belief that Jesus lay for forty hours in the tomb^[8] which led to the forty hours of total fast that preceded the Easter celebration in the early Church^[9] (the biblical reference to ‘three days in the tomb’ is understood as spanning three days, from Friday afternoon to early Sunday morning, rather than three 24 hour periods of time). One of the most important ceremonies at Easter was the baptism of the initiates on Easter Eve. The fast was initially undertaken by the catechumens to prepare them for the reception of this sacrament. Later, the period of fasting from Good Friday until Easter Day was extended to six days, to correspond with the six weeks of training, necessary to give the final instruction to those converts who were to be baptized.

Converts to Christianity followed a strict catechumenate or period of instruction and discipline prior to baptism. In Jerusalem near the close of the fourth century, classes were held throughout Lent for three hours each day. With the legalization of Christianity (by the Edict of Milan) and its later imposition as the state religion of the Roman Empire, its character was endangered by the great influx of new members. In response, the Lenten fast and practices of self-renunciation were required annually of all Christians, both to show solidarity with the catechumens, and for their own spiritual benefit.