Lent
Lent is the solemn Christian religious observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, before beginning his public ministry. Lent is usually observed in the Catholic, Lutheran, Moravian, Anglican, United Protestant and Orthodox Christian traditions, among others. A number of Anabaptist, Baptist, Methodist, Reformed, and nondenominational Christian churches also observe Lent, although many churches in these traditions do not.
Which days are enumerated as being part of Lent differs between denominations, although in all of them Lent is described as lasting for a total duration of 40 days, the number of days Jesus, as well as Moses and Elijah, went without food in their respective fasts. In Lent-observing Western Christian denominations, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends approximately six weeks later; depending on the Christian denomination and local custom, Lent concludes either on the evening of Maundy Thursday, or at sundown on Holy Saturday when the Easter Vigil is celebrated, though in either case, Lenten fasting observances are maintained until the evening of Holy Saturday. Sundays may or may not be excluded, depending on the denomination. In Eastern Christianity – including Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholics, Eastern Lutherans, and Oriental Orthodox – Great Lent is observed continuously without interruption for 40 days starting on Clean Monday and ending on Lazarus Saturday before Holy Week.
Etymology
The English word Lent is a shortened form of the Old English word lencten, meaning "spring season", as its Dutch language cognate still does today. A dated term in German, Lenz, is also related. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, 'the shorter form seems to be a derivative of *laŋgo- long and may possibly have reference to the lengthening of the days as characterizing the season of spring'. The origin of the -en element is less clear: it may simply be a suffix, or lencten may originally have been a compound of *laŋgo- 'long' and an otherwise little-attested word *-tino, meaning "day".In languages spoken where Christianity was earlier established, such as Greek and Latin, the term signifies the period dating from the 40th weekday before Easter. In modern Greek the term is Σαρακοστή, derived from the earlier Τεσσαρακοστή, meaning "fortieth". The corresponding word in Latin, quadragesima, is the origin of the terms used in Latin-derived languages and in some others.
Examples in the Romance language group are: Catalan quaresma, French carême, Galician, Italian quaresima, Occitan quaresma, Portuguese quaresma, Romanian păresimi, Sardinian caresima, Spanish cuaresma, and Walloon cwareme. Examples in non-Latin-based languages are: Albanian kreshma, Basque garizuma, Croatian korizma, Irish and Scottish Gaelic carghas, Swahili kwaresima, Filipino kuwaresma, and Welsh crawys.
In other languages, the name used refers to the activity associated with the season. Thus it is called "fasting period" in Czech, German, and Norwegian, and it is called "The Great Fast" in Arabic, Syriac, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, and Hungarian. Romanian, apart from a version based on the Latin term referring to the 40 days, also has a "great fast" version: postul mare. Dutch has three options, one of which means fasting period, and the other two referring to the 40-day period indicated in the Latin term: vastentijd, veertigdagentijd and quadragesima, respectively. In India, it is called चरम चालीसा. In Maltese, despite being a descendant of Arabic, the term Randan is used, which is distinctive when compared to the dialects of Arabic. Despite the centuries of Catholic influences, the term remains unchanged since the Arab occupation of Malta.
Purpose
Lent is a period of repentance which necessarily ends with a great celebration of Easter. Thus, it is known in Eastern Orthodox circles as the season of "bright sadness", and in the Catholic Church, the Second Vatican Council directed that twofold character of Lent was to be "brought into greater prominence both in the liturgy and by liturgical catechesis": Lent is a season for "recalling or preparing for baptism" and for penance, which "disposes the faithful, who more diligently hear the word of God and devote themselves to prayer, to celebrate the paschal mystery". Lutheran tradition refers to three traditional practices to be taken up with renewed vigour during Lent, known as "the three pillars of Lent":- prayer
- fasting
- almsgiving.
Many Lent-observing Christians also add a Lenten spiritual discipline, such as reading a daily devotional or praying through a Lenten calendar, to draw themselves near to God. Often observed are the Stations of the Cross, a devotional commemoration of Christ's carrying the Cross and crucifixion. Many churches remove flowers from their altars and veil crucifixes, religious statues that show the triumphant Christ, and other elaborate religious symbols in violet fabrics in solemn observance of the event. The custom of veiling is typically practised the last two weeks, beginning on the fifth Sunday of Lent until Good Friday, when the cross is unveiled solemnly in the liturgy.
In most Lent-observing denominations, the last week of Lent is known as Holy Week, which begins with Palm Sunday. Following the New Testament narrative, Jesus' crucifixion is commemorated on Good Friday, and at the beginning of the next week the joyful celebration of Easter, the start of the Easter season, which recalls the Resurrection of Jesus. In some Christian denominations, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday form the Easter Triduum. The viewing of and participation in Passion Plays occurs during Lent, especially during Holy Week, which are often interdenominational productions.
Origin
The pattern of fasting and praying for 40 days is seen in the Christian Bible, on which basis the liturgical season of Lent was established. In the Old Testament, the prophet Moses went into the mountains for 40 days and 40 nights to pray and fast "without eating bread or drinking water" before receiving the Ten Commandments. Likewise, the prophet Elijah went into the mountains for 40 days and nights to fast and pray "until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God" when "the word of the Lord came to him". The early Christian bishop Maximus of Turin wrote that as Elijah by "fasting continuously for a period of forty days and forty nights...merited to extinguish the prolonged and severe dryness of the whole world, doing so with a stream of rain and steeping the earth's dryness with the bounty of water from heaven", in the Christian tradition, this is interpreted as being "a figure of ourselves so that we, also fasting a total of forty days, might merit the spiritual rain of baptism... a shower from heaven might pour down upon the dry earth of the whole world, and the abundant waters of the saving bath might saturate the lengthy drought of the Gentiles." In the New Testament, Jesus went into the desert to fast and pray for 40 days and 40 nights; it was during this time that Satan tried to tempt him. The 40-day and night fasts of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus prepared them for their work.Early Christianity records the tradition of fasting before Easter. For the meal of the day consumed after sunset, the Apostolic Constitutions permit the consumption of "bread, vegetables, salt and water, in Lent" with "flesh and wine being forbidden." The Canons of Hippolytus authorize only bread and salt to be consumed during Holy Week. The practice of fasting and abstaining from alcohol, meat and lacticinia during Lent thus became established in the Church.
In AD 339, Athanasius of Alexandria wrote that the Lenten fast was a 40-day fast that "the entire world" observed. Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote that: "Our fast at any other time is voluntary; but during Lent, we sin if we do not fast." Church Father John Chrysostom stated that the early Christians did not consume meat for the whole duration of Lent.
Three main prevailing theories exist on the finalization of Lent as a 40-day fast prior to the arrival of Easter Sunday: First, that it was created at the Council of Nicea in 325 and there is no earlier incarnation. Second, that it is based on an Egyptian Christian post-theophany fast. Third, a combination of origins syncretized around the Council of Nicea. There are early references to periods of fasting prior to baptism. For instance, the Didache, a 1st or 2nd-century Christian text, commends "the baptizer, the one to be baptized, and any others that are able" to fast to prepare for the sacrament.
For centuries it has been common practice for baptisms to take place on Easter, and so such references were formerly taken to be references to a pre-Easter fast. Tertullian, in his 3rd-century work On Baptism, indicates that Easter was a "most solemn day for baptism." However, he is one of only a handful of writers in the ante-Nicene period who indicate this preference, and even he says that Easter was by no means the only favoured day for baptisms in his locale.
Since the 20th century, scholars have acknowledged that Easter was not the standard day for baptisms in the early church, and references to pre-baptismal periods of fasting were not necessarily connected with Easter. There were shorter periods of fasting observed in the pre-Nicene church. However it is known that the 40-day period of fasting – the season later named Lent – before Eastertide was clarified at the Nicene Council. In 363-64 AD, the Council of Laodicea prescribed the Lenten fast as "of strict necessity".