THE SEASON OF LENT
What, exactly, is the meaning of "Lent"?
Excellent question! We celebrate (or suffer as the case may be) this season
every year yet rarely give thought to what the word "Lent" means or
how the season came to be.
The term "Lent" comes from the Middle English lenten and the Anglo-Saxon lencten,
meaning "spring"; its more primitive ecclesiastical name was the
"forty days". Lent is the most common name for what is
chronologically the first part of the Paschal Cycle, a period of time which in
its entirety runs from Ash Wednesday to Pentecost. Lent, or the time of
preparation for the paschal celebration, runs from Ash Wednesday to the
beginning of the Easter Triduum (Latin for
"three days") which starts with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy
Thursday evening. The three days of the Easter Triduum
include the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and continue through Evening Prayer on
Easter Sunday. The Triduum is followed by the 50 days
of the Easter Season, which concludes on Pentecost Sunday. In addition to these
official calendar divisions within the Paschal Cycle, the last part of Lent,
beginning with Passion (Palm) Sunday, and the Easter Triduum
are also traditionally referred to as "Holy Week".
Lent evolved out of the primitive Christian pasch (from the Hebrew Pesach meaning "passover"); the earliest celebration of the passion,
death, and resurrection of Jesus. In the second century there was a two-day
fast associated with the vigil of Easter. This was the paschal fast; the abstaining
from the wedding feast until the bridegroom returns. In the third century, the
practice in the east was a six-day fast preceding the vigil while in the west
the two-day tradition was maintained. By the fourth century the practice had
become quite varied, with the duration of fasting being anywhere from six days
to six weeks. It was Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria
who encouraged the Roman church to follow the then eastern practice of fasting
for six weeks (roughly forty days) leading up to Easter.
There are two theories about the motivation for the forty-day fast. One is
that it began as a post-Epiphany fast. (Epiphany, which means
"manifestation", was celebrated in the east with the focus on the
Baptism of Christ.) This post-Epiphany season was seen as a liturgical
participation in Jesus’ forty days of fasting in the desert after His baptism.
The other is that it began as a period of preparation for catechumens (the unbaptized) leading up to their baptism; a preparation in
which all the faithful assisted by prayer and example. Evidence for this origin
comes from the Apostolic Tradition, a document from the third century
that describes the process of baptismal preparation. In fact, both motivations
have contributed to the season of Lent as we have it today. More
on that later.
By the middle of the fourth century Lent was recognized as a Liturgical
season. The Council of Laodicea prescribed that there
be no weddings during Lent and that saints could be commemorated only on Lenten
Saturdays and Sundays. Since the only reason for celebrating Mass on a weekday
back then was the commemoration of a saint, this effectively served as a
prohibition of Mass on all but Saturdays and Sundays during Lent. Fasting was
of prime importance. At that time meals were only eaten in the morning and
evening so in practice, fasting meant the morning meal was dropped. Forms of
fasting included the "dry fast" (when only bread, salt, and water
were consumed), and total abstinence from food. Fasting, along with prayer and
almsgiving, remains a key ingredient in this holy season we call Lent.
The custom of distributing ashes on Ash Wednesday came from the Mozarabic and Gallican liturgical
traditions where it was connected with entrance into the order of penitents
Although not at first related to the season of Lent, the custom gained
popularity as many of the penitential practices once reserved for serious
public sinners became standard for all the faithful. It was not until 1091,
when Pope Urban II ordered the imposition of ashes on the heads of all the faithful, that the reception of ashes became mandatory and
the Wednesday preceding the First Sunday of Lent became known as Ash Wednesday.
This reception of ashes was in keeping with the primary focus of Lent which had
become by that time penance, and conversely, the demise of baptismal theology
within the season.
The popularity of Ash Wednesday was paralleled by a change in emphasis on
the last Sunday of Lent, Palm Sunday. This Sunday was maintained as Passion
Sunday in
The double focus of baptism and penance in the season of Lent was restored
with the liturgical reforms of Vatican II, particularly with the Constitution
on the Sacred Liturgy (1963) and the Rite of Christian Initiation of
Adults (1972). While Ash Wednesday recalls the penitential aspects of Lent,
the structure and focus of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA)
has had a profound effect on recalling the baptismal nature of Lent. The
readings for the Sundays of Lent, like those of the entire liturgical year, are
on a three-year cycle, and the first of the three, Cycle A, restores the
catechumenal readings associated with adult initiation in the early Church.
This cycle can be used as an option every year in which parishes have an RCIA.
The first Sunday of Lent in all three cycles of readings uses the story of
Jesus’ temptation in the desert from either Matthew,
Mark or Luke (depending on the year), to focus on the beginning of the journey
to the resurrection. The second Sunday also has the same gospel story in all
three cycles, the transfiguration of Jesus, which points to the glory of a life
in Christ beyond the cross and death.
Beginning with the third Sunday in Cycle A, the ancient baptismal pericopes from John dominate the liturgies for three weeks.
On the third Sunday the story of the woman at the well is centered on the
"living water" which Jesus gives for eternal life. The story of the
man born blind and healed by Jesus is the focus of the fourth Sunday in Cycle
A. It is a baptismal story dependent on the early church understanding of
baptism as a period of enlightenment. The fifth Sunday presents the gospel of
the raising of Lazarus, a reading with a rich historical background of its own
and one that holds out to all Christians the ultimate goal of life with Christ
after death.
In Cycles B and C, the third through the fifth Sundays of Lent present
readings chosen to speak to those already baptized and continuing to grow in
their faith. Cycle B, particularly in the Old Testament readings, retraces the
covenant of God and God’s people through the new covenant of in Christ. The gospel
readings culminate on the fifth Sunday in the dying and rising of all
Christians on the journey through life with the use of the gospel of John on
the grain of wheat which dies to bear fruit. Cycle C has a stronger focus on
transforming faith and uses gospel stories in these three weeks which recount
cycles of failure and ultimate victory through faith. The gospel for the fifth
Sunday in Cycle C is the only one taken from John; here the story of the
adulterous woman who receives the mercy of God and begins again reflects the
theme of victorious faith begun on the First Sunday of Lent with Jesus’ victory
over Satan.
All three cycles move to the passion account on the Sixth Sunday of Lent
(properly called Passion Sunday) which marks the beginning of Holy Week. The
first part of the liturgy commemorates the Jesus’ entrance into
Hope that gives you a bit of insight into this tremendous season we call Lent!