2025 Sun March 16

“Lent” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “lencton” – meaning “spring” or “lengthening” from the time of year when the days grow long.  The season begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with the Easter Triduum (Maundy Thursday through Easter Day), covering 40 days (excluding Sundays which are little feasts of the Resurrection).  There are three key ideas to Lent:

1 Lent is in imitation of Christ -Early Christians observed “a season of penitence and fasting” in preparation for the Paschal feast, or Pascha (BCP, pp. 264-265). The season now known as Lent (from an Old English word meaning “spring,” the time of lengthening days) has a long history. Originally, in places where Pascha was celebrated on a Sunday, the Paschal feast followed a fast of up to two days. In the third century this fast was lengthened to six days. Eventually this fast became attached to, or overlapped, another fast of forty days, in imitation of Christ’s fasting in the wilderness.   40 is also connected to   Moses’ 40 days with God on Mount Sinai, and Elijah’s 40 days of

2 Lent is for preparing for baptism – Easter has been the high point and culmination of the Christian year  in remembrance and celebration of Jesus’s resurrection and, consequently, of our redemption. As such, Easter was regarded from the earliest times as the most appropriate time for persons to enter the church through the sacrament of baptism.

Four elements leading to baptism were developed – entering, prayer/growth, illumination, and commitment . According to author Alexander Shaia in Hidden Power of the Gospel  these steps  “perfectly echo the lessons taught in the gospel order of Matthew, Mark, John, and Luke. Scholars tell us that the full four-step process leading to baptism had formally appeared by 300 CE. The four-step process for baptism and the gospel sequence so perfectly mirror each other that we surmise the two grew together and likely became common practice in the same time period, sometime between 180 and 300 CE.”

The candidate themselves realized they had to ready themselves in mind and spirit.  By the end of the second century, all Christians fasted at least a day or  more in preparation for Easter, depending upon the level of their devotion. By the fourth century, it had become customary for devout priests and lay persons to join the catechumens in their more intense fasts, instructions and other preparations.

3 Lent is a time of  individual restoration and strengthening the community –Some believe that the word “Lent” may derive from the Latin “lentare”, which means “to bend.” This understanding reinforces a sense of Lent as a time of preparation for personal and collective transformation. Having nurtured ourselves through Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, Lent becomes the time to look truthfully at ourselves and make changes.  Alternately the time was important for those guilty of notorious sins who were being restored to the Christian assembly,  

Historically, it was also used by the church to solidify the Christian community in its early years. 

It wasn’t easy being a Christian in the centuries after Jesus . Lent grew up during the “growing pains” of Christianity. Conversion divided families and communities.   The Church needed to clarify the meaning of Christian faith and life so that its members would form a community that could withstand the pressures of an inhospitable environment. 

So Lent over the centuries has broadened its range of activities. Yes , it is a time of  individual scrutiny – “giving up ”  fasting, abstinence, penance  but more importantly a time of “growing into” through  prayer, self-discipline, study, reflection and reaching out and serving others. 

We don’t just do it individually but also collectively in Lent.   It is a special time for the whole Church to be on a retreat, to take inventory and reexamine priorities, to leave sin and self behind in the love and service of God and our neighbors. To keep a good Lent means to draw closer to God and one another and to prepare ourselves once again to renew our covenant with God through the reciting of our baptismal vows. Lent is a time to prepare to enter afresh into the mystery of Jesus ‘ resurrection and importantly our redemption.

Lent is:

• A time for looking at the things we do that are wrong or that tempt us, asking God’s and other people’s forgiveness;
• A time for giving up things that keep us from being loving people;
• A time for doing extra things that will help us grow closer to God;
• A time to be more aware of what it means to love as God loves us;
• A time to ask God to help us to be more loving, remembering that God is always ready to strengthen us.

 

• 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. The days lengthen in light vs. darkness.From Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, what was cold becomes warm. What was dormant awakens. Just as green shoots break through the winter earth, so the church stirs into action to proclaim the Easter mystery: in dying, God destroys death, and in rising, God delivers and proclaims newness of life.
• 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.
• How the interior of the church changes ? A. The church changes Vestments are changed to purple, a color associated with mourning. B. Ornate crosses and other adornments are veiled in the church and all floral decorations are removed. (Crucifixes are left uncovered.) C. The shout of praise “Alleluia” is eliminated from all acts of worship. D. The Eucharist begins with an acclamation that acknowledges our need for mercy. The Celebrant says, “Bless the Lord who forgiveth all our sins,” and the people respond, “His mercy endureth for ever.” E. The Gloria (“Glory be to God on high”) is neither sung nor said, and the service music changes to more penitential settings. F. The Decalogue (The Ten Commandments, see The Book of Common Prayer, page 317) is read or sung at the beginning of Sunday Eucharists. G. The priest’s final blessing over the congregation is replaced with a solemn prayer focusing on the Lenten journey.
• 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.

How do we fulfill the call for a Holy Lent?

A. By self-examination. This means setting aside time to intentionally reflect upon one’s thoughts and actions, acknowledging the ways in which we fall short of God’s goodness and love.

B. By repentance. To repent means to have “a change of heart” and to “turn around” from actions and attitudes contrary to God’s will. This means honestly confessing our sins to God and receiving his forgiveness.

C. By prayer. This calls us to take part in the Church’s corporate acts of worship as well as the setting aside of time for personal prayer.

D. By fasting. To fast is to abstain from certain foods or all food for a period of time. Fasting separates you from the distractions of this world and it brings us into a closer union with God. It allows us to hear God better and fully rely upon Him.

E. By self-denial. Denying oneself in Lent means giving up certain luxuries, even legitimate pleasures, in order to focus oneself spiritually.

F. By reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. In Lent, believers are especially called to read and reflect on Scripture in a daily way.