Brief history of the lenten season

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LENTEN SEASON

       Lent is one of the liturgical seasons in the Catholic Church. It is a period of penitential preparation for Easter. In the Western Church it begins on Ash Wednesday, six and half weeks before Easter, and provides for a 40-days fast and abstinence (Sundays are excluded), in imitation of Jesus Christ’s fasting in the wilderness before he began his public ministry. 

       Historically, Lent has undergone series of changes and nuances over the years, but its purpose has always been the same. Its sole purpose of course is not only to fast from food and drinks, but also, for self-examination and penitence, demonstrated by self-denial, in preparation for the paschal celebration. The English word ‘lent’ has another derivation from the Anglo-Saxon (early English) word meaning to ‘lengthen’. That is to lent as it were, comes at a time when the hours or daytime are ‘lengthening’, a time when we need to ‘lengthen’ spiritually, when we can stretch out and grow in the spirit. 

     Early Church fathers like Irenaeus of Lyon (c.130-200) wrote about this age long tradition in the earliest days of the Church, but back then it lasted only for two or three days, not the 40 days as we have it now. According to the Church historian Norman Tanner, for the first time the Council of Nicaea, in 325 A.D., discussed a 40-day Lenten season of fasting. The word used for Lent here was tessarakonta (in the original Greek), which means ‘forty’.  Tanner says that the council of Nicaea and the Second Vatican Council may be seen as the two poles in the history of lent: Nicaea acknowledged its existence while Vatican II confirmed its importance. The Second Vatican Council’s decree on the Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 109-10) gives an elaboration on lent where it emphasizes the twofold dimension namely joy and preparation. 

       According to different sources, keeping count of 40 days and when it should begin varied depending on location. In the East, for instance, one only fasted on weekdays. The Western Church’s Lent was one week shorter, but included Saturdays. Until the 600s, Lent began on Quadragesima (fortieth) Sunday, but Gregory the Great (c.540) moved it to a Wednesday, now called Ash Wednesday. The ‘Holy Week’ (part of Lent today)- a period of two- or three-days preparation, specially commemorating Christ’s passion and death, is a later adoption. 

       The ‘Holy Week’ focuses on the last days of Christ’s life on earth, followed by his resurrection. ‘Holy Week’ begins with Palm Sunday, commemorating Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-9; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:21-38; John 12:12-18). It moves to the ‘Last Super’ with his disciples on Maundy Thursday – ‘Maundy’ is from the Latin mandatum, meaning commandment. This captures Christ’s invitation to love: ‘A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another even as I have loved you’ (John 13,34). It is on Maundy Thursday Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane before he was arrested on Good Friday, we commemorate the bitter details of Christ’s passion: his scourging and crowning with thorns; his condemnation by Pontius Pilate; his journey to Calvary; his death on the cross; and his burial. But it is ‘Good’ because it signifies the day on which our redemption is realized. Holy Saturday quietly remembers Christ’s time in the tomb, and Easter Sunday rejoices in his resurrection ‘on the third day’- ‘third’ in the sense of counting Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

MEDITATIONS

DAY TWO WITH 

DAVID NUTAYI

     

Dearest in the Lord, 

As we continue to journey with the Lord in this Lenten season, we are invited to reflect on the Gospel according to Luke (9:22-25). A priest once asked a group of young people in his parish what the season of Lent meant to them. One said, lent is a time to prepare for Easter. Another said, it is a time for stations of the cross, yet another said, lent is for fasting and almsgiving. The priest thought he has heard it all until the youngest in the group said, lent is a time to choose to imitate the one you love, to be like Jesus. That response struck the priest most, he had never thought of lent in terms of a time to choose to imitate the person one loves. 

      Christ is saying to us today, if you wish to follow me, you must deny yourself take up your cross and follow me. It is a unique invitation by the Lord for us to follow His footsteps in our daily activities. 

Prayer: 

Lord, give me the grace to always do your will. Amen.