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LENT 101 – Why do we observe Lent as Catholics and Christians?

Lent, the period of prayer and fasting in preparation for Easter, is 40 days long, but there are 46 days between Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar, and Easter. So how are the 40 days of Lent calculated?

A Little History

The answer takes us back to the earliest days of the Church. Christ’s original disciples, who were Jewish, grew up with the idea that the Sabbath—the day of worship and of rest—was Saturday, the seventh day of the week, since the account of creation in Genesis says that God rested on the seventh day.

Christ rose from the dead, however, on Sunday, the first day of the week, and the early Christians, starting with the apostles (those original disciples), saw Christ’s Resurrection as a new creation, and so they transferred the day of rest and worship from Saturday to Sunday.

Sunday: The Celebration of the Resurrection

Since all Sundays—and not simply Easter Sunday—were days to celebrate Christ’s Resurrection, Christians were forbidden to fast and do other forms of penance on those days.

Therefore, when the Church expanded the period of fasting and prayer in preparation for Easter from a few days to 40 days (to mirror Christ’s fasting in the desert, before He began His public ministry), Sundays could not be included in the count.

40 Days of Fasting

Thus, in order for Lent to include 40 days on which fasting could occur, it had to be expanded to six full weeks (with six days of fasting in each week) plus four extra days—Ash Wednesday and the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday that follow it. Six times six is thirty-six, plus four equals forty. And that’s how we arrive at the 40 days of Lent!

Fasting and Abstinence

In the past, Lent was observed with much greater rigor than it is today, especially through the practice of fasting and abstinence. Indeed, the traditional 40 days of Lent refers to the number of days on which fasting was required—all of the days from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday, inclusive, minus the Sundays, which are never days of fasting. Since Pope Paul VI changed the requirements for fasting and abstinence in 1966, fasting is required only on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and abstinence only on Ash Wednesday and all of the Fridays of Lent (including Good Friday). But many of the faithful continue to observe the spirit of the older discipline, by such actions as voluntarily restricting their consumption of meat throughout Lent, or giving up something they enjoy for the full 40 days. And all restrictions—whether voluntary or imposed by the Church—are waived on great feasts of the Church, such as Saint Joseph’s Day and the Annunciation of the Lord, which are treated like the Sundays in Lent.

Prayer and Penance

Fasting and abstinence, whether required or voluntary, are only tools and not ends in themselves. They prepare us physically for the greater spiritual work of prayer and penance, which should take place throughout Lent. The practices of the Church reflect this: Roman Catholics do not sing the Alleluia during Lent as a form of penance and a preparation for the great joy of the Easter Vigil, when the Alleluia will be sung once more. The Church requires us to receive Communion during the Easter season—our Easter Duty—and so She strongly encourages us to make a full, complete, and contrite Confession sometime during Lent in preparation. We should make a diligent effort to pray more often in Lent, and if we aren’t sure how to start, we can look to the Eastern Churches, which recite the Prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syrian many times each day during Lent. (Another good option: The Church offers a plenary indulgence every Friday during Lent to those who recite the Prayer Before a Crucifix). Eastern Christians also use Lent as a time to pray for the dead more frequently, thus offering up their Lenten sacrifices and struggles for their departed friends and family and reaffirming the Communion of the Saints.

http://catholicism.about.com

LENT 101 – Why do we observe Lent as Catholics and Christians?

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